


Out Of The Ordinary [Prinxiety]

by Ali6ce



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:28:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 29,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23480230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ali6ce/pseuds/Ali6ce
Summary: Virgil has never had an easy life. Running from his past has always been is full time occupation, even after he became the Shadow Knight and started going after criminals still unknown to the police and his very enemy, the Red Prince.So what happens when his past comes back to haunt him? And what happens when Roman, the hero of the city, gats involved in the mess?What happens when the lives of the people Virgil loves are once again at risk?
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Deceit Sanders/Sleep | Remy Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 38
Kudos: 121





	1. 0.0

**0.0**

Good, bad, right, wrong, hate and love. These opposites are always fighting, always one against the other. Always black and white. Right? But where do we draw the line? Is it an ontological concept or is it a matter of point of views? Can something morally bad for you be morally good for me? When do you decide who's the hero and who's the villain? When do you know if you're right?

That's something Roman will have to learn and accept. Perhaps not everyone he wants to be the villain is as bad as he so desperately wants to believe. And maybe this new image, this new light in which he sees his former enemy could make a small feeling of love spark to life.


	2. 0.1

**0.1**

Virgil hid in the shadows casted by the tall skyscrapers, trying to catch his breath and catch the hero by surprise. It was routine by then. Get out, do the work, fight, try to go back home. He hated confrontation but there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't show any weaknesses or he knew there would have been consequences.

The Shadow Knight slowly peeked his head from around the corner after taking a couple of deep breaths.

When he didn't see anyone anywhere he cautiously came out of his hiding spot, standing there confused for a few seconds. Where did he go?

"You looking for someone?" Exclaimed a voice behind him and before he couldeventurn around, the Red Prince kicked him in the back, throwing him to the ground.

The hero looked at him, floating slightly above the ground with a smug smile on his lips.

But it didn't last long, because immediately after recovering from the shock, Virgil put his hands down beside his head and effortless sprang back up to his feet, using the strength of the momentum to throw a punch, hitting the hero right in the jaw.

The hit made him flew back, breaking the fall only thanks to his flying ability.

Both of them stalled, looking at each other with a scowl on their face, studying each other.

Virgil was panting and his back hurt, but he ignored it.

After what felt like hours, but were actually just a few seconds, the sound of a cat rustling around in one of the garbage cans near by distracted the Red Prince just enough for the Shadow Knight to attack.

As quickly as he could, he struck the hero with the shadows he conjured, making him fall to the ground out of surprise. Immediately Roman tried to get back up but the villain moved too quickly using more shadows to pin him to the pavement, and before the hero could even try to use his light powers to break free, the villain had already run away, vanishing in the shadows.

Virgil once again stopped, hiding in the shadows of an abandoned building, his breath heaving. He held his breath for a second watching the hero fly past him, sighing in relief when he went unnoticed.

"God, I'm so unfit." He mumbled, taking deep breaths to try and get his breathing back to normal. He stayed there for a while, hands on his knees, back against the wall, head bowed down. Only when he was sure the Red Prince wouldn't come back he started to slowly make his way towards the very top of the structure.

He stopped once he was on the roof, looking at the lights of the city from above. He didn't dare going closer to the edge without having his hang-glider ready for use, too afraid of falling to his doom. He never liked heights, not when he didn't have anything to hold on, anything to keep him safe and secure. Even when he did have his hang glider, anxiety made its way to the pit of his stomach, making his insides turn and his throat close. As secure as it could be there still was a not so low chance of him falling and seriously hurting himself, but he knew flying was way faster and safer than going through shadow-portals. Those were too easily influenced by his emotions and the situation he was in, they were far too... Unpredictable. Even with all his years of experience he was unsure of his ability to control them.

His mind automatically went back to the last time he used them; the fight with the Red Prince got a lot worse than he expected it to get, one of the hero's kick broke several of his ribs, and the prolonged confrontation made him particularly anxious making it hard for him to concentrate. His hang-glider broke becoming a completely useless flee option. He was desperate to get out of the situation. Desperate enough to try and use a shadow portal.

He shook his head before his mind could even reach the memory of what had happened that night, the only thought of it making him shudder with dread.

With one last deep breath, he got a running start and, holding his closed hang-glider tightly in his hand, he threw himself off of the building. Straight away as he was still mid-air, the small metal cane in his hand unfolded, becoming longer and letting two big, black, wing-like sails spread wide open. Virgil held the control bar tightly between his hands, the cold of the steal against his skin making him slightly shiver. He kept looking straight ahead all the way to his apartment, enjoying the fresh breeze blowing through his hair and trying not to think how high in the air he was.

After what to him felt like ages, he elegantly landed on his apartment complex's roof, the hang-glider effortlessly folding back into a small black cane.

Taking off his purple mask, Virgil made his way towards the door in front of him and went down the stairs to his floor, taking a deep breath before opening the door to his home and being engulfed by his bubbly and loving roommate and best friend.

He groaned when Patton hugged him, immediately making him gasp and look at me worriedly.

“Are you okay?” He asked watching me limp to the couch, throwing myself on it with a groan, “What happened?”

The villain sighed a small smile appearing on his face.

“Just every day’s work.” He answered, chuckling slightly at his friend’s huff of annoyance. They made a del a long time ago, where Patton promised not to ask any detail about how he got hurt and Virgil promised to always tell him when he was hurt and let him help, and even though it annoyed the ever smiling guy not to know what happened to his dark, strange son, he knew he had to respect his boundaries.

“I swear I’ll fight whoever did this to you.” He mumbled under his breath as he gently took off the villain costume after getting the first aid kit, making the guy smile at him affectionately.

He knew those were simply empty threats, the guy couldn’t hurt a fly even if he tried, he was way too sweet.

“Is the little monster already sleeping?” Virgil asked, trying his best not to hiss in pain every time Patton’s touched him with the cotton ball he was holding.

His friend looked up at him from where he was disinfecting a wound on his abdomen, raising an eyebrow, before smiling and shaking his head.

“He is. And stop calling him a little monster!”

The villain laughed a bit, ignoring the pain it caused him.

“Oh, come on, I’ve been calling him that since the day he almost rip my hair out by pulling too much as a baby! Plus Thomas loves that nick name and you know it!”

“yeah, yeah, whatever you say kiddo. Whatever you say.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, the hero landed on porch lightly as a feather, frustration clear on his features. How come that emo little psycho was always somehow able to escape him?!

He opened the door and ripped off his red cape, throwing it to the ground before letting himself fall on the couch with a loud groan.

“Roman?” His brother called out, calmly coming down the stairs with a book in hand. When he reached the bottom he looked up from the page he was reading and rolled his eyes at the condition his brother was in.

“What happened this time?” He asked his voice completely monotone.

The hero shoot him a quick glance before sitting up with a pained groan.

“The Shadow Knight. He hit me with one of his shadows and then pinned me to the ground before fleeing the scene.”

Logan sighed in frustration, going in front of his brother and folding his arms in front of his chest.

“How many times do I have to tell you, learn how to use the shield I made you. It can sense attacks and shield you from them even if you’re a little distracted.”

Roman rolled his eyes dramatically.

“If it wasn’t so freaking complicated then I would try to use it. Plus it does not go with the rest of my costume and a prince has got to slay.”

“A prince has got to _stay alive,_ you dipshit. And it’s not complicated, you just have to study how to use it.” He fired back, going to the kitchen and coming back mere seconds later with the first aid kit in his hands.

Groaning, the Red Prince took off the skin tight white sweater serving as top half of his costume to let Logan look at the few bruises and cuts he had and start medicating them.

“If I wanted to study I would be in college right now, Microsoft Nerd. And guess what? I’m no- OW WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!”

His brother lifted his fingers from the purple bruise he had just pushed them down on, smirking.

“Oh sorry, does that hurt? I was just looking for a way of shutting you up.”

Roman gasped dramatically, a hand on his heart.

“Rude!” He exclaimed as he let out a small sparkle from where his brother was patching up a cut on his side, making him hiss in pain and glare at him.

“I swear on Archimedes, if you don’t shut up next time you go out I’ll change the front door lock so that you can’t get back in.”


	3. 0.2

**0.2**

_“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine”_

_Virgil sobbed as he heard people screaming all around him._

_“You make me happy when skies are grey.”_

_He covered his ears trying to block out the cries for help, his eyes fixed on the ground._

_“You’ll never know dear, how much I love you”_

_Suddenly the scenery changed, he was standing in the middle of a dark room, it almost looked like a dungeon; everywhere he looked, he could only see bodies and blood, so, so, so much blood._

_And it was all his fault._

_“Please don’t take my sunshine away.”_

_His fault._

Virgil sat up, gasping for air and frantically looking around at his room. It was just a dream, he was okay. He was okay.

The villain shivered as the cold breeze from his slightly open window hit his skin that was covered by cold sweat.

He got up slowly and closed the window, stopping for a second to look outside: it was still dark and he could see his reflection in the glass; he looked at himself for a few moments, his eyes running along every small detail of his naked chest, analyzing every scar.

Only when the door opened gently did he tore his look away.

“Uncle V? Are you awake?” Came a small voice, breaking the silence of the room.

Hearing those words made a small smile creep on Virgil’s lips as he turned towards his 10 year old ‘nephew’.

“Another bad dream?” He asked gently, his voice still husky from sleep, as he picked up the small child, holding him in his arms.

Thomas nodded, burying his face in the crook of the villain's neck, making him chuckle slightly.

"Alright Little Monster, let's get you to bed uh?" Virgil said, laying the kid in his bed as he got in too.

After settling under the sheet Thomas snuggled close to the guy's warm chest as he started to run his hand through his hair softly.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are grey," Virgil hummed softly, almost in a whisper, watching with a smile as Thomas relaxed and slowly fell back asleep.

"You'll never know dear, how much I loved you, please don't take my sunshine away."

And just like that, Virgil fell back asleep.

***

The next day, Patton slowly opened the door, smiling at the sight of his son and his best friend cuddling together in the darker guy's bed. He slowly closed the door behind him deciding not to wake them up and knowing that Virgil had his alarm set on time to bring Thomas to school.

So with a bright smile on his face, he exited their apartment complex, walking towards the small library just a few blocks away from his house with two traveling cups full of coffee.

He entered the shop, his eyes scanning the place looking for a specific dark blue eyed man and finding him with his nose stuck in a book as per usual.

"Good morning Logan!" He greeted smiling, making the guy look up from the page he was reading. He smiled and adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"Good morning Patton. I'm happy to see you brought coffee."

The ever happy guy giggled, going to sit down on the chair next to him behind the cash register as he handed him the cup.

"Of course I did!" He exclaimed taking a sip of his hot cocoa.

He met Logan a few months back when he went to the library looking for good book to read to Thomas. They instantly became friends, even with their personality being completely different: where Logan always loved reading and learning instead of socializing, Patton was never much of a reader, although enjoying books like Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, and preferred making new friends and doing anything in his power to make them happy.

As time went by the bubbly guy took the habit of going to the small shop before work, taking with him a cup of warm coffee ever since he found out his friend's craving for it, and having breakfast with nerdy guy.

And neither of them could deny having developed a small crush on the other.

***

"That stupid fucking nerd, was the water really necessary? Oh fuck's sake." Roman grumbled as he towel dried his hair as best as he could.

He hated mornings and he hated waking up early, often sleeping in and causing his brother to unapologetically throw glasses of ice cold water on him to avoid him arriving to work late.

Taking the keys he always left on the table, the hero run out of the house, hair still mildly humid and one of his shoe laces still untied, but he didn't care, he couldn't be late again, his boss would kill him.

He sped walk down the street, trying his best to see if he took everything he need with him in his satchel. The owner of the small coffee shop he worked at might have looked like an old sweet lady to the outside world, but she could be scary as hell if you forgot even just part of your uniform.

Roman sighed in relief seeing that he didn't forget everything and that he was only a block away from his work place.

Seeing as he was just on time, he took out his phone, wanting to check his social media before his shift started. He was so focused on reading a post about himself as the Red Prince that he didn't notice the guy coming towards him hand in hand with a kid and bumped straight into him, making the stranger spill his coffee all over himself and kid chuckle.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry I didn't see you, I wasn't paying attention I'm so sorry sir!" He rambled blushing slightly and bending down to grab his phone that fell after the impact.

He locked eyes with the child's wide ones, shooting him a small smile.

"Whatever. Just look where you're going next time." The stranger said, his voice deep and a bit hoarse as he walked away without looking back, taking the kid with him.

"Bye Mr Stranger!" The child exclaimed waiving his hand energetically towards him.

Roman smiled and waved back.

"Come on Little Monster, you're gonna be late for school."

And with that, they were gone.


	4. 0.3

**0.3**

“Daaaaad, why do we have to go the mall? I don’t like it there!” Thomas whined, pouting making Patton send him an unimpressed look through the review mirror.

“Because you and uncle V both need new clothes! You can’t keep wearing the same ones over and over again! I can see through them because of how thin they’ve got from to washing them so much!” He said in his dad-voice, making the kid huff and look out of the window with a pout.

There was silence in the car for a few seconds.

“Was it really necessary for me to come?” Virgil said mumbling.

Patton looked at him confused for a second before returning his eyes on the road.

“Yes, Virge, it was. You can’t buy clothes without trying them on.”

“But I don’t like the mall either!” The darkly dressed guy whined, crossing his arms like a little child, making the poor dad like character sigh in exasperation.

“Oh my gosh I thought I only had one child with me! You are both coming and you are both trying on clothes!” He said making the other two groan in annoyance and resignation.

“Oh, come on, it’s going to be fun! We’re gonna go to American Eagle, Macy’s, H&M, GAP!”

This made the darkly dressed guy groan even louder, letting his head fall back on the car seat.

“Can we get ice cream afterwards?” Thomas asked sounding as if from answer to that question could easily derive whether or not he was going to be have.

“Sure, maybe we’ll even stop at the arcade, how does that sound?” Patton asked shooting a quick glance at his son through the review mirror; he smiled when he heard him cheer, making both him and Virgil giggle.

There was a second of silence before the darkly dressed guy broke it once again.

“Can we at least _go_ to Hot Topic? Please?” He asked directing his pleading eyes at Patton. He knew that even if the guy was not able to see them he was still able to feel them on him. The guy’s face in fact contracted in an expression that almost looked pained.

“Aw Virgil, come on, you know how that place scares me!” He whined childishly. The supposed villain knew perfectly well that he was joking, he would never make the cheery guy do something he was scared of, but, being someone who preferred bright colors, he also knew that he didn’t love the place.

“So?” He raised a questioning brow, “GAP scares _me_ but I still go with you.” He said matter of factly.

“Ugh, _fine._ ”

Patton huffed, rolling his eyes and making the darkly dressed guy giggle and silently cheer.

***

After getting to the mall they walked around for a bit, going to the store Patton wanted first and looking at clothes for Thomas, who did nothing but hide between clothes hanger and in the changing rooms to avoid having to try things on.

He quickly tired himself out, and by the time they were starting to walk towards Hot Topic he was making grabby hands at Virgil, trying to get him to pick him up.

The tall guy smirked, looking down at the child, before chuckling, shaking his head, and crouching down, his back towards the kid.

“Come on, Little Monster, jump up.” He said, making Thomas cheer happily as he climbed on his back.

Virgil let him, letting him settle down before reaching behind him and grabbing the child from under his armpit and putting him on his shoulders so that the kid’s feet were sitting on his chest.

He got up slowly, the kid immediately putting his arms around the guy’s neck and holding on tightly.

“Thomas, let go you’re chocking me!” Virgil squawked out, his voice chocked, making Patton chuckle and Thomas let out a small “Oopsie, sorry!”

“It’s fine Little Monster, don’t worry. Just hold on to my hair, _not too tight,_ okay?” He said, a slight warning tone to his voice as he remembered the last time Thomas held on to his hair. The little guy was way stronger than he looked.

Finally they found the shop, setting off to find clothes for Virgil.

“Hey Pat, could you please go find me another pair of black skinny jeans? This are way too tight. I don’t need to try them on, I just need a bigger size.” The guy called from the changing room, handing his friend the pants he tried on and starting to put his clothes back on.

“Sure thing kiddo!” And with that, he took Thomas’ hand and was off to find what Virgil asked him to.

After a few minutes of aimlessly looking around trying to distinguish one black item of clothing from the other, Patton finally gave up trying and, deciding to ask for help, he approached a small thin girl, with long black hair, piercings, black clothes and _a lot_ of eyeliner.

“Hey there kiddo,” He said smiling, completely disregarding the name tag on her shirt reading ‘Emily’, “how’s life?”

“Too long.” She deadpanned, her face serious, her eyes holding nothing but a bored and empty look.

“O...kay... uhm, we were looking for skinny jeans, do you by any chance know where I could find them?”

“Down there,” She pointed slowly before turning around and adding, “with what was left of my will to live.”

“All-alright, thank you!” Patton said, not really knowing what else to say, but still trying to be cheery.

“Gosh darn it, I really don’t like this place…” He muttered, slowly walking in the direction the employee pointed him into when all he got as an answer was a groan, not noticing that Virgil had already got out of the changing room and was handing the now smiling girl a five dollar bill as he silently chuckled.

“Dad, dad look!” Thomas said excitedly as soon as they got out of the store, pointing towards an ice cream parlor, “Can we please get one? Please!”

Patton looked down at his son who was looking upon at him with puppy eyes and folded hands.

“Fine.” He said smiling.

They all got the dessert and sat down on a bench near by, just watching people pass by.

It was them that Virgil noticed two guys just outside of Valentino’s store, looking and subtly pointing towards them.

Immediately he tensed up, glaring at the two as they got closer. One of them was wearing a bright red bomber jacket with a simple white shirt underneath, his hair swiped back in a messy yet classy style, and his whole stance and walk screamed confidence; the other one was more collected, wearing just a back dress up shirt with a blue tie, his hair gelled back perfectly.

The darkly dressed guy kept his head down, observing them from behind his purple bangs; he was about to get up and tell Patton to take Thomas and follow him out immediately when-

“Logan! What are you doing here?” His friend’s cheery voice interrupted his train of thought, making his eyes immediately jump to him as he got up and hugged the smart looking guy, who just stood awkwardly, slightly adjusting his glasses as they separated.

“Salutations Patton. Me and my brother-”

“Greetings!” The other interrupted him, making Logan sigh in annoyance, before continuing.

“As I was saying, me and my brother were here shopping, and from the bags surrounding you and your friends, I can assume you are doing the same.” He said, his voice monotonous and almost robotic.

“Oh yeah, Virgil, my son and I just finished buying some clothes and wanted to get a snack before heading home!” Patton said smiling lovingly to the two.There were a few seconds of slice where none of them talked.

Virgil observed as the guy wearing the bomber jacket elbowed Logan in the stomach slightly making him groan and glare daggers at him.

“Come on, ask him.” He muttered, trying to not let anyone hear and making his brother blush a deep cherry red.

“So Patton,” He said clearing his throat slightly and adjusting his already perfect tie.

Said guy turned towards him, a big smile on his face and his head slightly tilted to the right like a puppy, giving him his full attention.

“I was wondering if you, by any chance, were free on Friday, and if so, if you would like to go on a date with me.”


	5. 0.4

**0.4**

Virgil had been stalking the man for the past three days, gathering information and making sure he was taking on the right man.

So, hiding in the shadows of a dark alley, the villain observed the guy come closer and closer: he was dressed in a dark grey tuxuedo that went perfectly with his opaque black dress shoes; His black hair streaked with grey thanks to aging were slicked back by what was probably gel and a light dark grey stubble adorned his cheek giving him a sharp and intimidating look. Nothing about him screamed “human trafficker” but Virgil knew better than to stop at someone’s mere appearance.

He waited for a few more seconds, so that the guy was in the perfect position for him to strike; then, with quick and smooth movements, he jumped forward, grabbing him from behind and muffling his cries with his hand, before dragging him in the abandoned building near by.

He took a few steps inside, the man he held in his arms struggling to break free and threw his evicting on a lone chair standing in the middle of the room.

Before the guy could even register the fact that he had been freed, Virgil let his powers out, controlling the shadows so that they could wrap around his wrists and ankles, successfully tying him to the chair.

“Shut it. Or what is about to come will be way worse” he threatened immediately shutting up the whining man in front of him.

“Now, Jordan Smith.” The villain looked at the man from under his hood, his face hidden by the purple mask. “I’ve been observing the movements of a human trafficking organization for the past three days, and every little hint seemed to draw back to you. I know you are the leader. So why don’t you just tell me where I can find your base, so I can free your victims and give you what you deserve?” He said, his voice grave as he leaned over the quivering man.

“I-I don’t k-know what you’re talking about.” Smiths said, the shakiness in his voice badly hidden.

Virgil sneered in disgust at the pathetic excuse of a man in front of him. He hated his kind with a passion that was difficult to describe.

Without hesitation the villain made the shadow vines constrict more around the man’s limbs before sending a strong electro shock through them, making him cry out in pain.

He took a step closer as Jordan Smith shook in front of him, feeling another vine slowly wrap around his neck.

“I’ll ask you one more time: where. Are. The prisoners?!” He said, his voice getting louder and louder as he made the shadow tighten his grip around the man’s neck.

“Please. P-please don’t kill me. I swear I won’t do it again, I’ll turn myself in, but please don’t kill me!” He pleaded, making the Villain quickly loose his patience, his hand now around the man’s neck where the shadow vine once was.

“WHERE?!” He screamed.

Smith whimpered in fear only for a second, tears rolling down his eyes as he sobbed.

Virgil tightened his grip, making his knuckles turn white with the effort.

“THE PORT! THE P-PORT, THAT’S WHERE THEY ARE!” The guy yelled desperately. The villain let go of his back, turning around, satisfied with the answer and started to leave the building.

“Wait! I told you what you wanted to know! Y-you can’t leave me here!”

Jordan Smith struggled against his restraints as the villain slowly turn around. He froze when he heard Virgil empty deep laugh.

“Oh, but I won’t.” He turned back around, offering the guy a two finger salute. “I’ll see you in hell.”

And with that, the man tied to the chair felt the shadows painfully sink into his skin and he let out a blood curdling scream, before falling to the ground, now free from any boundaries. Dead.

Virgil only spared a glance behind him, a small smile appearing on his lips.

He took out the untraceable phone he only used specifically for his missions, sending a quick message to the nearest police station.

-C _heck the port._

He pocketed the device and was about to flee the scene of the crime when the Red Prince appeared in front of him with a flash of blinding golden light.

“What are you doing here?” He growled not noticing the body behind him yet.

Virgil smirked, slightly moving to the right, to show off his latest accomplishment.

“Oh not much y’know? Just everyday’s work.” He joked watching the hero’s expression change from suspicious to enraged, as his eyes darkened.

“You killed him. You killed an innocent man! You’re nothing but a _monster_!” The Red Prince yelled, his blood red cape coating around his flying form angrily as he closed his hands in fists.

Virgil ignored the urge to tell him that the Jordan Smith was anything but innocent, knowing very well that the hero would have never believed him. So he decided to just chuckle.

“I don’t care if you think it’s wrong.” He said smirking, enjoying the hero’s rage. He liked toying with him, pushing his buttons and watching him explode.

“I had the time of my life killing him and I would do it again.”

That all it took for Roman to attack.

They wrestled on the ground, both trying to have the best and both trying to land as many punches as they could, but Virgil was too tired to keep up the pace the hero had set. He knew pulling that trick with the shadow vines on the criminal for that long would have drained him of his energy, but he was hoping to not bump in his enemy that night.

Of course though luck was never on his side.

With one last kick the villain sent The Red prince flying to the other side of the road and quickly summoned thick black smoke to obscure his vision before taking out his hang-glider and take off with a bit of a run-up.

He flew home as fast as he could, glancing back every so often to check that the hero was not following.

Only when he finally got home and hurriedly changed out of his costume, completely ignoring the pain everywhere on his body, did he relax enough to take a breath of relief. With new found peace he exited his apartment, going down the few flight of stairs that separated his and Patton’s house from their neighbors Valerie’s.

Gently knocking on the door, the darkly dressed guy took a step back waiting for the sweet girl to open the door.

“Virgil!” She exclaimed when she saw him, a wide smile spreading on her face.

The guy offered her a small smile.

“Hey Val. Could you please call Thomas? Thanks for looking after him by the way.” He said as she just nodded and called out for his ‘nephew’.

“Uncle V!” The kid exclaimed, running full speed in to Virgil’s open arm. The villain winced in pain but quickly concealed it as he returned the hug.

“Hey little monster! Did you have fun with Valerie?” He asked chuckling. He waived the neighbor goodnight and went back to his apartment holding Thomas close as he listened to him go on and on about how he and Valerie backed cookies and watched Disney movies all night.

They stayed on the couch, just talking and joking around for a few minutes, before Patton finally came home, a big smile on his face, a slight blush on his cheeks and a love struck expression in his eyes.

Virgil didn’t even have to ask about the date, before his best friend started ranting about it non-stop, making the guy laugh at the similarities between him and Thomas.

‘ _Well, at least one of us had fun tonight._ ’ He thought, deciding not to tell Patton about his injuries and just deal with them himself; he didn’t want to dim the guy’s happiness.

It was only after he patched himself up as best as he could attend tiredly threw himself on his bed, that he noticed a message on his regular phone.

He curiously picked it up to read it and he felt all the blood drain from his face.

_\- I’m not that easy to get rid off._


	6. 0.5

**0.5**

“Well?” Patton asked quickly twirling to show off his outfit, “How do I look?”

Virgil chuckled shaking his head as he looked affectionately at the man in front of him who was nervously bouncing on the ball of his feet; he was wearing a bright blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his light grey cardigan wrapped around his shoulders as usual and a pair of light brown pants to tie it all up.

“You look amazing Pat.” He said getting up and reaching for the bouquet of flowers, handing it to his friend. “Now go or you’ll be late. And remember if anything happens-”

The cheery interrupted him, rolling his eyes with a bright smile.

“I’ve got you on speed-dial, yeah, I know. You should really stop worrying so much!”

“Whatever. Now go, he’s probably already waiting for you.”

With one last kiss on Thomas forehead and one last wave, Patton ran out of the apartment, flowers in one hand and jacket half-way on.

It only took a few minutes to get to the small library where Logan worked and that they decided to use as their meeting place.

Just like Virgil had predicted, the nerd was in fact already there, waiting for the bubbly man seemingly as calm as ever.

“Hey!” Patton exclaimed slowing down to a jog and slightly panting for the effort.

Logan immediately looked up, the look in his eyes slightly betraying his anxiousness; for a second he thought the cheery guy wouldn’t show up, but as a small smile appeared on his lips, he knew he would never admit it.

“Hey.” He replied, his voice soft as he watched Patton stop in front of him and lean on his knees to regain his breath.

He took a couple of deep breaths before straightening back up and handing the bouquet to Logan, a big smile on his face and his cheeks slightly pink.

The nerdy guy just stared at the flowers for a couple of seconds, eyes wide and lips parted.

“F-for me?” He asked softly, repetitively looking between the bouquet and his date. He could feel his face become completely red when he saw him nod excitedly.

“I hope you like them, I know maybe it’s a bit much for a first date but I thought maybe you would like them, I thought it could be romantic! It’s okay if-” He started to ramble this time more shy, but Logan quickly interrupted him, leaving a small kiss on his cheek that made Patton go as red as a tomato.

“They’re beautiful. Thank you.” He whispered before turning around and entering the library, putting the flowers in a vase with a bit of water and setting them behind the counter so that he could go back to get them at the end of the night.

“Are you ready to go?” He asked Patton once he was back out, offering him a hand.

The cheery guy took it gently, intertwining their fingers and swinging them back and forth happily as they started walking.

They talked about everything and nothing as Logan guided them towards the park where Roman had insisted on helping him set everything up for the date, seeing as apparently he wasn’t romantic enough.

When they finally got to the park, Patton abruptly stopped talking once he saw it: a creamy white blanket was laying on the grass with a big chest full of food set on it, around ten pillows surrounded it, making a cozy spot for the two to sit and enjoy their dinner, warm fluffy blankets were tidily folded on the side ready for use and to top it all of, bright warm toned fairy lights surrounded everything, giving the scene some kind of magical vibes.

Patton let out a breath he didn’t know he was holdingas he tried his best to take everything in.

“I-It’s so beautiful! You did all of this? For _me_?” He said smiling and turning around towards Logan, slightly jumping up and down.

The nerdy guy nodded.

“Of course. I wanted everything to be perfect so I asked Roman, my brother, to help me out with some decorations, seeing as he is the most romantic of the two.”

He stumbled back, not expecting the bubbly guy to throw himself at him and hug him tight.

“Thank you Logie!” He exclaimed before running to sit on the blanket, already wrapping another one around his shoulder, leaving a flustered Logan behind him.

It took him a few seconds, but eventually the normally serious guy was able to regain his composure and went to sit in front of his date, slowly starting to take out the food.

“I know it’s not some fancy dinner but I thought sandwiches would have been the best choice for a picnic date, so I still hope you like them.” Logan eyes jumped from the food to Patton nervously, only relaxing once he saw him nodding.

And the night just went on like that, with them talking on and on about everything and just enjoying each other presence.

It was only two hours later when they decided it was time to get going.

Not bothering to pick anything up (Roman promised would do it himself, wanting the couple to have the most relaxing evening as possible), the two decided to walk to the other side of the park before making their way home.

They walked side by side for a few minutes, Logan looking at his feet and Patton looking at him fondly.

“Try that one!” He said pointing to one of the dry leaf on the ground. The nerd looked up at him surprised.

“What?”

The cheery guy smiled at his confusion and giggled softly before replying.

“I saw you were going out of your way to step on leaves you thought might be crunchy, so I thought I could help you out!”

He laughed when he saw Logan’s cheeks getting as red as they could get, before he lowered his head embarrassed.

He actually thought he was being subtle with it, but apparently he wasn’t. It was something he had been doing since when he was kid and it just stuck.

Logan quickly glanced up towards Patton, and seeing him looking at him expectantly, the nerd decided to go over to the leaf and step on it. Just like his date expected, it let out a satisfying crunch, making a small smile appear on the nerd’s lips and causing the other to cheer happily.

“Yes! I was right!”He exclaimed making Logan laugh gently.

“So,” He started as they got back to walking, “is this your dream job? Becoming a professional leaves cruncher?”

Logan laughed shaking his head as he jumped on another leaf, now more comfortable.

“No, I would actually like to be a writer and a teacher.” He answered making Patton smile.

“Really? So I will soon see your name on one of the books in your library?”

He scoffed before once again shaking his head.

“Oh God no. I want to be writer but I also love cheating and I would die if any of my possible future students were to find one of my books! I'm planning on using a pseudonym, though I'm still not sure what it will be."

Patton nodded understandingly and before they even knew it, they were in front of the cheery guy's apartment complex.

"Thank you for the date, Logan." Patton said softly, fiddling with the keys in his hands. "I really enjoyed it." He sheepishly looked up at Logan blushing slightly.

"It's no problem really. I actually enjoyed it a lot too." He said keeping his hands behind his back, trying to push back the blush he felt growing on his cheeks.

There was a second of silence, then Patton quickly got on the tip of his toes, and before he could lose the bit of courage he managed to gather, he kissed Logan on the lips.

"Goodnight Logie." He whispered before turning around and running into the condominium.

And Logan just stood there, completely still, eyes wide, cheeks so red you could see them in the dark.

Slowly his fingers rose up to his mouth, gently tracing his lips, the feeling of the kiss still lingering there, making them tingle.

And in the silence of the night, the biggest smile he smiled in his whole life lit up his face.


	7. 0.6

**0.6**

Virgil read the message over and over again, feeling his heart rate becoming increasingly faster and his breath more and more labored.

After a few excruciatingly long seconds, the meaning of the message finally sunk in his mind, breaking him out of his trance and making him stumble to get off the bed, almost tumbling to the floor in the process.

He didn’t even bother to grab his costume as he hurriedly snatched the hang-glider from his belt and jumped out of the widow opening it mid air.

His mind was racing with all the possibilities: Was it actually _him_? How could he be back? What would happen now? What was he planning on doing? What if tried to hurt Patton or Thomas? What if he tried to get him back?

Virgil shook his head, trying to get his mind off of every ‘what if’, and ignored how much his breathing had actually accelerated.

In record time, he reached the near by town and went straight to his childhood friend apartment. He didn’t think twice before using his shadows to open one of the windows and slip in, completely disregarding how the whole room wasdark.

He rolled on the ground as the hang-glider went back to being a small metal cane, and immediately got back up, wearingly looking around. His breath was still labored and his eyes jumped frantically all around the room, trying to see through the thick layer of darkness that coated the apartment.

Why was everything so dark? What if _he_ already got to him? What if something happened? What if _he_ was still here, waiting for him, knowing that’s the first place he’d go to?

His train of thoughts was interrupted when a dark figure crashed into him making him tumble to the floor and knocking the air out of him. Before he could even realize what was happenings he felt two strong gloved hands wrap around his neck, increasingly tightening their grip as their thumbs purposely pressed down on his trachea.

Vigil did his best to try and pry the hands off of him, but in vain. Finally he was able to concentrate enough to conjure one of his shadow vines, pushing the person off of him and immediately scurrying away, trying to regain his breath, before making every shadow in the room retreat with a quick movement of the hand so that he could finally see his attacker.

“Kayad! It’s me!” The guy in front of him immediately stopped, his body relaxing when he saw it was none other than Virgil who entered his house. The Shadow Knight quickly turned on the lights before releasing the shadows.

“Virgil for fuck’s sake you scared the shit out of me!” The guy said taking big strikes as he went to hug who was essentially his brother.

The two have known each other for years and went through literal hell together; when you go though the same things they went through with someone, you can not help but keep that person in your life. It almost becomes a part of yourself, no matter how horrible the experience was.

They hugged for a few minutes and the Shadow Knight knew that even though his friend was putting on a tough façade, it was all just an act; he could clearly feel him shaking in his arms.

They broke apart and the villain looked Kayad over, checking for injuries. He wasn’t wearing his costume, his mask that was supposed to cover only half of his face was laying forgotten on the couch, and his mechanical boiler hat was change on the clothing rag near the door. The only thing out of the ordinary were the yellow gloves covering his hands and the large burning scar that covered the left side of his face, making his skin whiter and slightly translucent and that corner of his mouth frozen in a perpetual snake grin.

Seeing that he was okay made Virgil release a sigh of relief, before he once again tensed up, remembering the reason he was there in the first place.

“D-Did you get the message too?” He asked, his voice just as shaky as his hands were and just barely above a whisper.

Kayad hugged himself as he looked down, almost imperceptibly nodding.

“Shit.” Was the only muttered response the other gave.

There were a few seconds of tense silence, the two of them just trapped in their own thoughts, one hugging himself while the darker dressed one paced around the room, his hands running through his hair constantly.

“Fuck. _Shit._ What the fuck do we do now Kay? What if he found us? What if he attacks? How did he even get our numbers? What if already knows where we live and his already planning something? What if he tries to hurt Patton or Thomas or Rem-” Virgil started breaking the silence, but Kayad was quick to interrupt him before he could slip into a panic attack.

“Virge. Slow down. I don’t know how he got our phone numbers, if this even _is_ him since you know he had lots of connections. If he already knew where we lived, we wouldn’t be here talking about it right now. Patience was never something he excelled in. We have to wait it out, this could all be just the cruel joke of someone who knew him and wanted to mess with us.” He put his gloved hands on Virgil’s shoulders, stopping his anxious pacing as he tried his best to ground him and calm him down.

“Nothing bad is goin to happen. And if anyone even tried to hurt Patton, Thomas or Remy, they are not alone. They have us to protect them.” He smirked a bit before adding, “Also I’m pretty sure Remy would burn their ass with his coffee and give them a lesson before I would even be able to get on the scene.”

That was able to steal a smile from Virgil despite the situation.

“Yeah, that man is a force of Nature, and for sure the sassiest man to even walk on earth.”

They both chuckled, calming down slightly thinking of Kayad’s partner; he truly was an amazing man and lover and he hold a special place in both of their hearts, although Virgil would never admit it.

“Let’s wait for at least a week and see if anything happens okay?” Kay asked, bringing their mind back to the situation at hand, the mood in the room immediately dimming back into a serious one.

“Everything’s going to turn out fine.”

If anyone who didn’t know him as well as Virgil did were to look at him now, they would have believed every single word he spoke. After all he did go by the name of Deceit for a reason. But the Shadow Knight knew how to read him. He could see right through his act as he observed his hands shaking and his eyes running from his, settling to stare at his nose instead, with a fake reassuring look.

Nevertheless, Virgil still nodded, needing that reassurance even if fake.

They talked for a few more minutes, before deciding if was time for the both of them to head to bed, the Shadow Knight promising Kayad to text him as soon as he got home.

That night, though, sleep refused to take Virgil in its comforting arms, letting nightmares populate every moment he spent with his eyes closed, leaving him trapped in a world of pain.


	8. 0.7

**0.7**

A week went by and Virgil was constantly on edge, jumping at every single little noise and not being able to properly concentrate on anything. He tried as best as he could to follow Deceit’s advice and just keep on doing his usual criminal research but he just couldn’t.

His sleep was populated by nightmares and flashbacks and his day life by anxiety attacks and Patton’s worried questions.

It got to the point where even his enemy started thinking something was up for the way he was acting.

It was only at the end of the week where he got proof that he wasn’t worrying in vain.

He was patrolling the city, looking behind him every now and again to make sure no one was following him, when he tripped, falling to the ground.

“Fuck.” He groaned massaging his ankle and looking back to what he tripped on.

His eyes widened as he quickly scurried away, the pain in his leg completely forgotten: laying there in front of him was the Red Prince’s body.

Virgil stared at the unconscious hero not knowing what to do as his breath got more labored and his mind started racing with questions.

Who did that him? Was it _him_? But then, why going for the hero when he could have gone directly to him and Deceit? _Did_ he already get Kay? Is _he_ still around here?

He took a deep breath trying to calm down and not jump to conclusions; it could have been something else, maybe some kind of gang the hero was fighting had someone sneak behind him and knock him out with a bat or something. Different scenarios started playing in his head one after the other, taking everything into consideration, but deep down Virgil knew he was right, he could just feel it in his gut.

In a sudden and sporadic decision he took the Red Prince’s limp body into his arms and used his shadows to protect them from unwanted eyes; he was aware that taking the hero in his hideout was not a great idea, but he couldn’t just leave him there so that anyone could come by and try to take his mask off or god knows what else. They were enemies but the villain didn’t see him as a bad guy, they just had very different views about justice. Plus, he needed answers and the hero was the only one who could give them to him.

It took awhile before he was finally able to get to the abandoned building and up to the seventh floor. He didn’t go there often, only when he was too tired or hurt to fly home and didn’t have anywhere else to go.

Years ago, before he even met Patton, that was where he would live with Kayad: the old, dirty king-size mattress still laid in the middle of the dimly lit room; the broken window on the left let the evening breeze in, making the villain shiver slightly as he laid the hero down with his head on the pillow, his warmth leaving him. He went to the desk in the corner of the room and opened one of the drawers, taking out his emergency first aid-kit, before going to kneel beside the hero.

Virgil gently took off the golden muscle cuirass, carefully laying it beside him, before taking off the sweater under it. He tried not to stare too much at the man’s toned torso, focusing on the numerous bruises and cuts instead as he started to disinfect and wrap the hero’s torso with bandages.

When he got to the hands Virgil sighed slightly in relief when he saw the knuckles where bruised, meaning that whoever it was that attacked the Red Prince got their fair share of hits, and if his assumptions _were_ right and it was _him_ who attacked the hero, that also meant that he was still weak.

He was cleaning the last cut on the hero’s face, trying his best to clean the part of the wound that went under the mask without lifting it too much, when the man shifted slightly, groaning in pain, making the villain immediately back up.

His eyes opened, slowly taking in his surroundings, before finally focusing on Virgil; it took his brain a few seconds to realize who was the person in front of him, but when realization finally sunk in, his eyes widened and he jumped up, scurrying away and ignoring the pain on his torso.

“Where did you take me and why am I here?” He growled, his eyes not leaving the villain.

Virgil slowly raised his hands in a sign of surrender.

“We are in an abandoned building just outside of town and I just wanted to know what happened.” He answered honestly.

The Red Prince stared at him confused, shooting him a distrustful look.

“If my intentions were to hurt you I would have when you were laying unconscious and completely vulnerable.”

The hero glared at him, still suspicious, but didn’t make any move to escape.

“So what happened? Who beat you up?” He asked leaning back into the desk chair he was sitting on, trying his best to act relaxed even if he was freaking out inside.

The Red Prince looked at him as if he had grown a second head.

“What do you mean ‘ _who beat you up_ ’?” He responded in bewilderment, his eyes narrowing.

Virgil just raised a an eyebrow at him.

Silence fell around them, as they just stared at each other.

Finally the villain sighed, rolling his eyes.

“I mean exactly what I said, who was the person who beat you up? What did the look like?”

“What did they look like?” The hero repeated once again making the Shadow Knight sigh in frustration.

“Oh my god, yes! What did they look like? It shouldn’t be such a hard question to understand!”

The hero looked at him with an indignant look on his face, his arms crossed and his eyebrows raised.

“Bitch it was you!” He exclaimed sassily, watching as the villain’s eyes widened in horror.

“W-what?” Virgil whispered making the Red Prince scoff and get up from where he was sitting on the mattress.

“You heard what I said.” He said as he started to put his costume back on. “What? Is your evil agenda so packed you don’t even remember Dr. Gloom?”

His voice was laced with sarcasm; he glared at the villain, his mean stare faltering slightly when he saw the raw confusion and fear on his enemy’s eyes.

He shook his head before turning around and opening the window; when he saw the villain didn’t stop him, too busy staring into nothing, he turned back around and jumped out, flying back home.

Virgil just stood there, watching as the hero flew away and feeling the air around him getting thicker and thicker.


	9. 0.8

**0.8**

Roman stopped mid-air, looking back at the place he just flew away from. The villain was still there, completely frozen, his eyes looked lost and dazed over as what looked like a confused and terrified look seemed to dominate his features.

What was happening? Why was the Shadow Knight acting so weirdly? Did he really not remember attacking him? If he did and he was just lying he would be a really amazing actor but it just seemed so real… but then who was the person who beat him up?

Gently, he passed a hand on the band-aid the villain put over a cut on his cheek; why would he attack him just to patch his wounds up right after?

He turned around and started flying home was again, thinking back to the events of the night.

_Roman was flying over the city, calmly gazing in every dark alley, making sure nothing fishy was going on._

_His eyes were not focused, though, as his mind was elsewhere: he couldn’t help but think back to the events of the week, to how weirdly the Shadow Knight was acting; in the past few days he looked nothing but distracted and strangely on edge, and it just tingled the hero’s curiosity._

_He was almost done when, flying over one of the tallest buildings in the city his eyes fell on a dark figure standing on the edge of an eighteen story building. The hero quickly flew down, fearing it was someone who was about to take their own life, barely missing the sight of the person the dark figure was spying upon._

_Only when he quietly landed a few feet away from the figure did he realize who it was._

_“What are you doing here?” Roman asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously as he got in to a defensive stance, as he slowly inched closer to the Shadow Knight._

_Contrary to what usually happened, the villain didn’t jump at the sound of his voice, instead he just slowly turned around, coldly glancing at the hero up and down, before a wicked and sickening smirk deformed his features._

_There was only a second of silence and before the hero could realize what was happening, the Shadow Knight had already raised his fist an d hit him on his temple, hard._

_Roman felt himself losing balance and falling down the building, the windows speeding pass him. He quickly slowed his fall, still hitting the ground quite hard, making his back ache._

_He ignored it, getting up and shaking his head trying to force his head to stop spinning as he saw the villain jumping down from the roof and landing perfectly on his feet with a heavy thump right in front of the hero, towering over him._

_He knew the villain was too close for him to use his powers effectively, so he didn’t waste any time before kneeing him in the gut, watching as he stumbled back. His eyes widened when he realized that the villain was chuckling._

_Taking advantage of his distraction, the villain jumped on him, pushing him to the ground as he started throwing punches everywhere on his torso and face._

_It took a few seconds before Roman was finally able to push him off of him, flipping them around._

_He could feel bruises starting to form on his sides and on his face, and different cuts all over his body bleeding, but he ignored it as he started to land some hits._

_The Shadow Knight’s head repeatedly hit the pavement, his eyes rolling back as he lost consciousness; only then did the hero finally stop, his breath labored, and slowly and wincing got up from over the body._

_He dusted himself off, grimacing when he saw his costumewas ripped in more than one place._

_“What the hell is happening?” He asked to no one in particular, glancing back at the unconscious body of the villain._

_Yes, the two of them were enemies, but he knew that for some reason if there was a way to avoid conflict, the Shadow Knight would take advantage of it. At first he liked to think that it was because he was afraid, but if he had to be honest he was well aware that the villain was strong enough to beat his ass if he so wanted to and he often wondered why he held back so much._

_He sighed, shaking his head before wincing a little and turning around to fly away._

_As he was about to take flight though, a quick rustling behind him made him turn around and before he could do anything, something big and heavy hit Roman on the temple, hard._

_The hero fell to the ground, his vision blurring as he slowly faded into unconsciousness. The only thing he saw right before darkness surrounded him, was_ _the Shadow Knight’s evilly smirking face glitch._

Roman shook his head as he landed in front of his house, trying to get the memories out of his head. It was probably just his imagination anyway. There was no one else in town who had superpowers as far as he knew.

He sighed before going inside and aiming straight for his bed.

Meanwhile on the other side of town, Virgil just stood there, petrified for a couple of seconds, his eyes fixed on where the spot where the hero once stood.

With everything _he_ could have done, he actually decided to go there.

The villain paled, his mind completely blanking as he thought about what to do next.

His suspicions were proved to be right, so what was going to happen now? What were _his_ plans? What was _he_ trying to do? Did _he_ actually already got to Kay? What was _he_ doing in his form, what was he trying to do?

The cold breeze coming in through the windows woke him up from his trance and only then he noticed that the Red Prince had fled. He didn’t care though, he had other more important things to think about.

Quickly he fumbled to get his hang-glider out, fighting as best as he could against the panic attack he could feel start to take control of his body and mind.

The villain jumped from the window, opening the hang-glider mid-air, his hands shaking so much he almost lost his grip. His thoughts were running at a thousand mile per hour, and the blood was rushing in his ears making every sound around him more muffled. He squeezed his eyes a couple of times trying to keep them from getting blurred.

After what felt like an eternity he finally tumbled through his living room window, his hang-glider closing back into a cane as he collapsed to the floor, gasping for air.

He curled up into a ball, scurrying back in a corner of the room, his hands going to pull at his hair as a way to try and grounding himself.

“Virgil!” He heard Patton exclaim, but it was like he was hearing him from underwater.

Patton slowly started to get closer, now completely awake despite the ungodly hour of the night. He knew he had to be careful and make his presence known to Virgil before touching him in anyway, seeing as most of the times he wasn’t in control of his power during a panic attack.

“Hey kiddo.” He started softly, “Can you hear me?”

Virgil looked up, eyes wide and scared, filled with panic, but he slowly nodded.

“Can I touch you?” The darkly dressed guy stared at him for a couple of seconds, his panicked mind trying to register the question, before nodding again.

Slowly, Patton gently grabbed Virgil’s wrists, prying his hands from his hair and holding them in his own, his thumbs drawing small circles on them, trying to calm down his frantic heartbeat.

“Breathe kiddo, everything will be okay, you’re safe.” He took a deep breath and his friend tried to unsuccessfully copy him.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, just try again. Do you remember your exercise? In for four, hold for seven, out for eight. You can do it kiddo.”

Slowly but surely Virgil finally started to calm down, his head spinning for the hyperventilation, but his vision slowly getting clearer. His eyes finally met Patton’s concerned ones.

“Do you feel better? What happened?” He asked his voice still soft and gentle as if afraid to send him in another attack.

The darkly dressed guy closed his eyes for a second, his head leaning back against the wall as he swallowed the lump that was still in his throat.

He nodded slowly, before the second question registered in his mind and his eyes shot open, once again full of fear.

“Kiddo, calm down it’s okay, you don’t have to tell me if you’re not ready.” Patton tried to calm him down.

“I-I have to go to Deceit, I have t-to make sure he’s o-okay.” He mumbled, trying to get up but immediately falling back down from exhaustion.

“You’re not going anywhere, mister. You’re in no condition to fly, you would crash in two seconds flat.”

Virgil was pale as his eyes darted around the room looking for a way to go around his friend.

“B-But I _have_ to go, please.”

Patton sighed hearing how desperate his friend was, his lips closing in a tight line.

“Okay, listen-” Patton started but immediately got interrupted by a small voice coming from the hall leading to the bedrooms.

“Dad? Virgey? What’s happening?” Thomas asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with his small fists.

Silence fell in the room for a couple of seconds as the kid noticed the villain’s red puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks and gasped, running to him immediately after.

“Uncle V! Are you okay? Why are you crying? Are you hurt?” He asked frantically, throwing himself in his arms.

Virgil chuckled softly, drying his cheeks.

“I’m okay Little Monster, but there’s somewhere I need to go.” He answered, his voice still shaking and alarmed.

Thomas tilted his head in confusion, as if to ask where the villain needed to go.

“Virge needs to go to Kay’s house, do you remember him?” Patton asked looking at his son as a big smile spread on his face.

“Yes! He’s Uncle V’s friend with cool scars that make him look like a snake!” He said excitedly. “Can I come too? I want to say hi, he was so nice and funny!”

Virgil stood silent, not knowing what to say and hesitantly glancing at Patton.

“Of course you can come kiddo.” The cheery guy got up from his spot on the ground, offering a hand and a small smile to the villain. “Now come on, we have a 45 minutes car ride to get to him.”


	10. 0.9

**0.9**

Despite what he had advised Virgil to do, Kayad wasn’t doing much better. After his talk with the villain, he spent the whole week being paranoid and on edge, his reptile senses constantly tingling and on high alert. Even his lying ability was feeling the consequences of his anxieties, so much so that even his boyfriend started worrying about him.

So after many days of trying to ignore his instinct, he decided to take a day off of his daily patrolling to spend it at Remy’s coffee shop, so that he could be sure nothing happened to him.

He knew he was most likely overthinking things, but he couldn’t help it. What if he was _really_ back? What if he tried to get to them? To him? What if he tried to hurt _Remy_?

His breath hitched as that thought crossed his mind. They had only been dating officially for a few months, but they had been friends for over five years, and thinking about a reality where he wasn’t a part of his life made Kayad shudder.

He adjusted the hoodie that covered his face, trying to hide from the prying eyes of the consumers by making himself smaller and pushing his body more into the corner of the booth. He was used to people staring because of the way his face looked, but it never got less uncomfortable. He was aware his burns weren’t a beautiful sight to witness, even he had trouble looking into the mirror sometimes, so he really couldn’t blame other for staring or kids for pointing; Remy was the only one who didn’t even flinch when he saw them.

_It was late at night when Kayad woke up from yet another nightmare, the left side of his face tingling as the sensation of the flames still lingered on his skin. He gently touched it with his hand, flinching slightly at the touch on his still sensitive scar._

_With a deep sighed he got out of his small twin bed and put on one of his many black hoodies, before slipping on some shoes and exiting the small crappy apartment. He didn’t care if he was still in sweatpants, he wasn’t planning on going anywhere fancy, just a walk to clear his mind._

_Kayad flipped his hoodie up as he walked the deserted streets to what felt like hours, his nose turned up towards the stars. He missed having someone to talk to; it was his idea to go separate ways, he was the one who encouraged Virgil to take his new friend offer of a shared apartment, but sometimes he wished he had been more selfish and told him to stay by his side. He would always deny it, but he did get pretty lonely from time to time._

_Suddenly a movement caught his attention, his eyes immediately being drawn to a figure._

_Kayad slipped into the shadows as he observed the guy coming his way with furrowed eyebrows; he was staring at his phone, holding a cup of what seemed to be coffee and for some reason he was wearing sunglasses despite it being 3 in the morning. The leather jacked he wearing perfectly fit his frame, slightly concealing the fishnet top he was wearing underneath it, and the black skinny jeans that hugged his legs only let small pieces of white skin show._

_Kayad’s breath hitched as he walked past him, his high stiletto heels clicking on the cement and even if he didn’t believe in love at first sight, he certainly didn’t need him to walk by again to know he found him very attractive._

_He didn’t even realize he was following him until he saw the guy stop to look behind him, making Kayad quickly hide in the shadows of an alley and hold his breath. He cursed himself for doing something as stupid as following the first guy he sees, but for some reason he felt the need to._

_Taking one last deep breath he went back on the main street, just to come face to face with the stranger, his glasses slightly pushed down on his nose, one of his arms against his torso, holding up the one holding the cup of coffee._

_“Okay, who are you and why are you following me?” He asked, his dark brown eyes staring straight into the other’s wide amber ones._

_Kayad quickly recomposed himself putting up his usual cool and flirty façade, easily hiding his surprise and anxiousness behind it._

_He shrugged, letting the hood on his head slip down a bit to reveal his scarred face and snake-like grin, sure that it will scare the pretty guy away. To his surprise though the young man didn’t even flinch, but just raised a carefully filled in eyebrow, waiting for him to answer. Once again he didn’t let his surprise show._

_“I just wanted to ask you if it hurt when you fell from heaven?” He replied smoothly, swiftly ignoring his first question. He knew he was a lame pickup-line, but that’s the best his shocked and flustered mind could come up to._

_“No, but I did scratch my knee on my way up from hell.” The stranger replied unimpressed, rolling his eyes._

_There was a second of silence, his mind momentarily shocked by the unusual answer, making a small victorious smile appear on the guy’s lips._

_“Oh,” Kayad let out softly, then he smirked, “So_ _that_ _’s why you’re so hot.”_

_Finally the pretty stranger seemed surprised, his plump lips slightly falling open, and he could have sworn he saw a small blush creeping on his face._

_Then, as soon as it came, it was gone; he leaned in slowly, his eyes almost half-lidded and his glossed lips parted as his free hand slipped into his jacket’s pocket._

_“Hot enough to burn you,” He whispered into Kayad’s ear, making him blush furiously as he stood perfectly still. He slightly backed up, admiring his job. “If I were you, I would be careful.” He zapped a taser right beside his face making him jump and close his eyes tightly._

_“Stop following me. Or I will not hesitate to tase that pretty little ass of yours. Got it girl?” His voice was low and serious but at the same time held curiosity and interest._

_Without another word, the stranger turned around and was about to walk away when Kayad called out._

_“Wait! Wait, I-I’m sorry I wasn’t meaning to follow you is that you just… caught my interest and you’re really pretty and I didn’t realize I was following you until you turned around and…” the scarred guy stopped, his lips in a tight line and his eyes jumping everywhere in order to avoid the stranger’s curios ones. “I’m sorry.”_

_There were a few seconds of silence before the pretty stranger stranger sighed, folding his arms and cocking his hips out._

_“Okay, listen girl, you really gotta up your game because this whole sneaky creepy guy aesthetic really doesn’t look cute on you.” He stopped for a second, his eyes looking him up and down, wetting his lips, watching amused as the guy in front of him furiously blushed. “On the other hand though, the awkward flustered guy aesthetic really does look amazing. I’m Remy.” He extended an hand, only slightly raising a curious eyebrow when he saw the other guy slightly flinch._

_“Kayad.” He answered, his voice almost mumbled as they shook his hands._

_He went to take his away, but felt the other one slightly tightening his hold as he uncapped a pen with his teeth. Remy leaned down scribbling a few digits on his wrist and finishing with a little heart._

_“Call me tomorrow.” He said as Kayad stared at the phone number written on his skin in bright pink ink. “we can get to know each other over a coffee.”_

_He winked at him before turning around and walking away, slightly swaying his hips, leaving behind only a madly blushing Kayad and the echo of the clicking of his stilettos._

And now, five years later, Kayad watched with a stupid love-filled grin as his now boyfriend served yet another consumer their order, joking and chatting like only he could do.

Finally, after helping Remy cleaning the whole place, the coffee shop was close, the sassy man locking the door as his boyfriend left a loving kiss on his temple.

“You know you don’t have to walk me home right? I can defend myself pretty well, I thought I made that clear the first time we met.” He said jokingly, a hand on his hips as he looked up at him.

“Yeah, I know love. I still wanted to make sure that you would get home safe though. Let’s go.”


	11. 1.0

**1.0**

Kayad just stood there, watching as Remy made his way up his driveway and unlock his door. Just as he was about to turn away and walk home though, his snake-like senses made him turn around just in time to see a shadow quickly hide in the alley near his boyfriend’s house.

In less than a second Kayad was at the door, blocking it with his hand and smiling nervously, his eyes frantically looking around.

“Babe? What’s wrong? You okay?” His boyfriend asked as he looked at him with a surprised expression and his eyebrow raised.

“Nothing, nothing, just…why don’t you come to my house? I don’t feel like being alone tonight.” He explained, trying to keep his voice from shaking and a nonchalant tone.

Remy shoot him a suspicious look as he slowly nodded.

“Okay.” His voice was slow and slightly hesitant before adding, “Are you sure you’re okay? You’ve been acting weird all week and it does _not_ suit you.”

Kayad anxiously looked around as he waited for his boyfriend to lock the door back up.

“I’m okay Love, just a bit stressed; a dear friend of mine is going through some stuff.” He answered as he took Remy and started speed walking in the direction of his apartment, subtly shooting glances behind his shoulders every now and again, making sure no one was following them. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see his boyfriend frowning slightly, his long legs keeping up with his pace with no problem.

“Is Virgil okay? Did something happen?” His voice was concerned and slightly alarmed. He knew the emo guy well and he was like a little brother to him.

Kayad looked at him briefly, his eyes immediately going back to the street.

“Yes, for now I think he is.” He answered in a low voice. Remy didn’t know their past. He didn’t know what happened to them; he had no idea what the nightmares his boyfriend had every night were about; and his boyfriend surely had no intention of telling him that, nor the fact that that same past might have been back to haunt them. There was no reason for making him panic over something they weren’t even sure of. It would only cause for both of them to be overly anxious and stressed.

They just walked silently the rest of the way, Kayad relaxing slightly when, after walking for a good ten minutes, he noticed no one was actually following them, and slowed his pace down to a bit.

The scarred guy sighed in relief when he saw the outline of his apartment complex in the distance, but immediately stopped in his tracks, his breath hitching, when he noticed a car he had never seen before stop right infant of it.

“Bitch you almost made me drop my sunglasses, what’s wrong now?” Remy said annoyed, taking a step back and putting said glasses back on the top of his head. Only when he looked back up did he notice the car. “Who’s that?”

Kayad didn’t answer, his eyes still fixed on the car as a dark and slightly hunched over figure got out of the vehicle.

He let out a sigh when the light from one of the lamppost revealed Virgil darkly dressed figure.

“Virge! Gurl what’s up? What you doing here at 2 in the morning?” Remy exclaimed, letting go of his boyfriend hand to walk towards the guy, Kayad walking behind him with a smirk on his face. His eyebrows raised in surprise as he watched Patton and Thomas both get out of the car right after his best friend. Wasn’t it a bit over bed time for 10 year old kid?

“I needed to talk to Kay and Thomas and Patton wanted to say hi.” He answered looking down as the kid run past him and towards his friend with his arms wide open.

The scarred guy bent down, taking him into his arms before getting back up and shooting a look between Virgil and Patton and his boyfriend who were now quietly talking.

“And couldn’t this wait until tomorrow?” He raised an eyebrow looking at him, not missing the slight shakiness of his hands.

“No.” Virgil answered, his voice low and just as shaky as his hands.

Kayad nodded, a million questions running through his mind and concern making his way through his thoughts. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Thomas staring at his face, making him slightly uncomfortable.

“What are you staring at?” He asked trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice as he faced the kid in his arms. He didn’t like when people stared at him.

The child smiled at him.

“I like your scars!” He exclaimed cheerily, “They make you look like a cool snake!”

Everyone chuckled as they watched the usually nonchalant and well composed guy’s face become beet red as his eyes did their best to avoid everyone else’s.

“Shut up.” He grumbled before going to open the door, whispering a small ‘ _thanks_ ’ to Thomas who was still in his arms.

They all went up to Kayad’s apartment, Patton and Virgil just awkwardly standing in the middle of the room as Remy threw himself on the couch.

“C’mon gurls, sit down!” He said patting the seats next to him as Kay gently set Thomas back on his feet.

“I’m going to make some tea to warm us up a little, then we can talk okay?” Everyone nodded and the kid went to sit down on his dad knees, cuddling closer as soon as he let out a small yawn.

A few minutes past where they all just talked amongst each other, waiting for the warm beverage to be done.

It didn’t take long for Kayad to be back, holding a kettle full of hot water in one hand and a tray full of mugs in the other.

“Okay, now: what did you need to talk about so bad that it couldn’t wait until tomorrow?” The scarred guy asked, sitting down on the armrest of the couch besides his boyfriend, one of his eyebrow raised.

He watched surprised as Virgil’s slight smile vanished from his face, his expression darkening slightly.

“Let’s go in another room. I’ll explain.”

Kayad feigned a dramatic sigh, while rolling his eyes, but got up anyway, the only thing betraying his anxiousness were his slightly shaky hands.

The Shadow Knight followed his friend in to his bedroom, closing the door behind them. Then tanking a deep breath, he started to explain the events of the night.

“D-does that mean…?” Kayad started, his already low voice completely fading out by the end of the question.

His eyes widened when he saw Virgil nodding right before uttering the words he wished he would never hear: “ _He really is back”_


	12. 1.1

**1.1**

In the next couple of days Virgil’s anxiety was through the roof: there wasn’t a place where Thomas and Patton could go without him following them.

Each morning he woke up a few hours before them, telling his best friend he had to be at work earlier, before patiently waiting on the roof for them to get out so that he could follow them, hiding in the shadows of the many alleys, to make sure they were safe.

It became his 24/7 occupation, so much so that the villain even forgot about city patrolling. So much so that he didn’t even realize he himself was being followed.

The hero hid behind the rooftop exit, observing the Shadow Knight as he looked down towards the two citizen.

He had been following him for the whole day trying to understand why the villain was behaving so strangely, and the only goal he reached was getting even more confused and completely drenched by the rain.

With a frustrated sigh Roman swept a few strands of wet hair out of his eyes; he always hated this type of weather, too dark, cod and humid. It always ruined his mood and looks.

He observed as the villain clearly had a different opinion from the one he had: in fact, if anyone were to look at him in that moment, it would have seemed to them that not even the rain seemed to touch him, not daring to land on the few parts of his white ethereal skin not covered by the costume.

Virgil waited for Patton and Thomas to get into the apartment complex before sighing. Closing his eyes, he tilted his head towards the sky, allowing himself to relax for a second as the droplets of rain lightly drummed on his cheeks. He was going to be soaking wet by the time he went inside, but he didn’t care, he loved the rain, it was his little personal way of keeping part of the sky inside of him.

The hero waited a few more seconds, admiring the villain from afar before shaking his head. He could not be thinking that way. He knew what the Shadow Knight had done. How many people he killed; and the number was anything but low.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward, leaving the security of his hiding spot.

“Why are you following them?” Roman asked, trying to keep his voice neutral.

The villain jumped, not expecting anyone to be there, and quickly turned around, hiding his fear and surprise behind a glare.

The hero studied him for a moment, noticing how his shoulders and whole body were tense and his arms barely raised in front of him; it was not the position of someone who was about to attack, but rather of someone who is looking for a way out, and his eyes bouncing left and right trying to find a way around him, only confirmed that. But why?

“That is none of your business.” He spat back, a slight shakiness hidden in his voice.

Virgil was not looking for a fight. Not when it had been a week since he had an actually good night of sleep. He was exhausted, especially when the only few, rare hours of sleep he got those days were populated by nightmares that did not let him rest.

“They are innocent people. Of course it’s ‘ _my business’,_ ” The hero answered, making air quotes with his fingers almost mockingly. “Is my job to protect citizen like them from people like you.”

His voice was firm and disdainful, making the villain repress a flinch.

“People like me?” He let out a short, sarcastic laugh. “And who would the people like me be?”

The Red Prince glared at him, growling in annoyance at the other’s mockery.

“Villains.” He let the word slip out as if it tasted bitter. “Monsters who find killing whoever they please fun and entertaining.”

This time Virgil couldn’t conceal a slight yet visible flinch, as his mind traveled back through time and space.

_“Oh Virgil, you know it’s in your nature.”_ _He_ _whispered, his fingers lightly caressing his skin as he just stood there, petrified._

_“You’re just like me: a monster.”_

The Shadow Knight quickly shook his head, trying his best to ignore the lump that took form in his throat. He could still feel _his_ ghostly fingers lingering on his skin maligning him shudder.

“Whatever you say Princey.” He said trying to put up his usual snarky façade, before taking a step backwards and diving off of the skyscrapers and opening his hang-glider, gathering the shadows to hide him as he landed on the street.

He watched as the hero ran to the edge of the building, looking down with an irritated look on his face.

He didn’t know why, but as he did the breath exercises Patton showed him a long time ago and watched the hero fly away, he felt the urge to follow him and make sure he got home safely.

So taking one last deep breath, he grabbed his hang-glider once again and started following the Red Prince, only stopping once he saw him land on the lawn of a normal two story house and getting in, being greeted by no one other than who he remembered to be Logan.


	13. 1.2

**1.2**

As days passed Virgil started to look more and more worn out: his skin got paler, his body thinner and the circles under his eyes were deeper than ever. He didn’t sleep, hardly ever ate and he never stopped watching over Patton and Thomas.

At this rate though, he didn’t know how long he could last.

“Virgil, I said no. You are not going work, you are staying at home to rest.” The fatherly guy said sternly.

They had just woke up and he saw the villain stumble into the kitchen, almost falling over due to the exhaustion.

“Patton, I’ve already told you that I’m okay, I just haven’t been sleeping well.” He mumbled, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

“Kiddo, I won’t say it again: you are staying home for the day. I’m gonna take Thomas to school and then come back to make sure you get some rest.” He said, already typing an e-mail on his phone and walking towards his son’s room.

Virgil’s eyes widened as what Patton had said sunk in.

“Wait, no Patton, you don’t have to-”

“Too late I have already e-mailed my boss telling him I couldn’t come to work due to Thomas being sick. Now go lay on the couch as I wake him up and get him ready for school.” He interrupted him, making the villain sigh defeated as he went to do as his fatherly friend had ordered.

“Can I at least come with you and Thomas?”

He tried to give Patton his best puppy eyes as his friend looked him up and down hesitantly, concern swimming in his eyes. “I really don’t feel like being alone today.” He added almost in a small voice.

It wasn’t entirely a lie, but it also wasn’t the whole reason why he wanted to go with him.

“Fine.” Patton sighed, dismissing the little victorious smile on the villain’s face with a small movement of the hand. “But when we come back you’re going to eat breakfast and watch a movie with me, deal?”

Virgil didn’t have to think twice before nodding, as he got up to go get ready to go out.

Within minutes they were out of the house, Thomas happily skipping towards school between a still slightly concerned Patton and an exhausted but a little more relaxed Virgil.

After that the whole day went by really fast, with the fatherly guy doing everything in his power to make sure that the villain gained back at least some of his energies; he made him watch movie after movie, feeding him meals and snacks every chance he got and ensured he was staying hydrated.

At some point through the day, Virgil’s suddenly remembered they never went to pick up Thomas from school; he immediately sits up, the exhaustion long gone.

“W-w never went to pick up Thomas! He’s gonna be so scared, we have to-”

“Kiddo, calm down.” Patton immediately interrupted him, gently pushing him back down on the couch and bringing his friend’s legs back on his lap. “Thomas went to a friend’s house for the weekend. He’s okay.”

Only as they were half way through Moana did the villain’s eyes finally start to close as sleep finally wrapped its arms around him as the night approached.

“ _Te Fiti… It’s gone-_ ” The vibration from Patton’s phone made him look away from the movie as he paused it to answer the call.

“Hello?” He whispered, knowing how light of a sleeper Virgil was.

“ _Patton, thank God you answered!_ ” Kristi, one of his coworker, said through the speaker. “ _I’m so sorry for the time, I know it’s 10 at night and you have Thomas sick but is there anyway you can come here to close up? I wouldn’t be asking this in another situation but Josh just cut his hand open and I don’t know who else to ask, and I know you have a housemate and-_ ” 

“Kristi, breathe.” The fatherly guy interrupted her gently as he already started to get up. “It’s okay, I’ll come in and close up the bakery, you take Josh to the hospital. Is he okay?”

He chuckled slightly when he heard the loud sigh of relief his friend let out.

“ _Patton you are a literal angel and I don’t know how I’ll ever make it up to you! And yes, he’s okay, I think his ego is what hurts the most._ ” She informed him chuckling. “ _This dum-dum right here tried to do a knife-flip he saw on TikTok and he ended up grabbing the blade instead of the handle._ ”

Imagining the scene and hearing the other retort that it was a cool trick he just wanted to try, Patton chuckled slightly as he gently tuck the blanket under Virgil’s sleeping form.

“Ah, don’t worry about it. What are friends for if not helping each others out? Now get in the car, I’m putting my shoes on and I’ll be there in a few minutes.” The cheery guys said, and with one last look towards his friend, he walked out of the apartment, locking the door behind him.

***

_“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine,”_

_Virgil was standing in a dark room, his back to the wall; the moldy, unpleasant smell the walls were giving off filling his lungs; he could see specks of dust dancing through the dim light of a flickering lightbulb hanging from the ceiling._

_“You make me happy, when skies are grey.”_

_A backlit figure was standing in front of him; they had their back to him, preventing him from looking at their face. In front of them Virgil could see another figure; this one though was laying on the ground in a fatal position. He could hear them whimpering and crying, and he could see them shaking._

_-Please don’t. Don’t do it.- they cried in a small voice._

_“You’ll never know dear, how much I love you,”_

_-You know I don’t have a choice._

_Virgil gasped as heard his voice come out of the dark figure._

_Suddenly standing in front of him was a past version of himself, staring down at the other still indistinguishable cowering figure, but it no longer had his back to him. He could hear the pain barely hidden in the voice of his past self, but his face was a mask of indifference. He looked completely numb._

_Virgil saw his past self raise a hand, his palm facing the poor guy, as he let out a small, whispered apology._

_And before he could even realize what was happening, the dark shadow-vines found their way into the victims body, killing them as their agonizing screams filled the room._

_“Please don’t take, my sunshine away.”_

_Once again his perspective suddenly changed, and the Shadow knight was looking as his stretched out arm and opened hand in complete horror, standing in the spot were his past self was standing just seconds ago._

  * _Oh Virgil,- a voice he knew all too well whispered in his ear, -You want alway be able to protect them._



_It was only when his hand fell limp to his side that he could finally see it. There, lying in front of him, were Patton and Thomas’ lifeless bodies, holding each other close in a pool of their own blood._

_Tears started streaming down Virgil’s face._

_-No. No._

_He couldn’t breathe._

_“Please don’t take my sunshine away.”_

_He couldn’t breathe._


	14. 1.3

**1.3**

It was almost 1 am when Patton finally managed to finish cleaning the bakery and get back home.

He opened the door slowly, doing his best to not make too much noise as to not disturb his sleeping flat mate.

Only when he turned around after taking off his coat and shoes, he noticed that his best friend was no longer laying on the couch asleep, but was instead curled up in a corner of the room, shaking like a leaf and rocking back and forth.

The shadows in the room seemed darker than usual, looking almost as if they were made out of ink and getting darker the closer they got to Virgil.

“Kiddo?” Patton asked quietly, taking a slow step forward. The villain though didn’t give him any sign of having heard him, as he just kept rocking.

The cheery guy’s heart ached as he listened to his friend’s panicked breathing becoming even more shallow; he slowly kept getting closer, stopping only a few feet away.

“Deep breaths kiddo, everything is going to be okay.” He said trying to reassure him and help him calm down, but Virgil couldn’t hear him.

His eyes were screwed shut and his hands were pressed over his ears, _his_ voice still ringing in his head over and over again.

Without thinking, Patton reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, trying to provide confort to the distressed villain, but it only made him panic worse.

His breath stopped and his eyes shot open, zeroing on the cheery guy without registering who he was, as the shadows in the room lunged towards him.

Black inky vines wrapped around him, cutting his skin and throwing him against the wall.

Only when the dull sound of his friend’s limp body hitting the ground rang through the room, did Virgil finally realize what he had done in the midst of his panic attack.

“No.” His voice came out as nothing more than a hoarse whisper as he tried to get up shaky legs, just to fall back on his knees. “No, no, no, no, no!”

He started crawling towards Patton, his breathing once again getting shallow, his body shaking and tears falling down his cheeks, staring horrified as a small pool of blood started to form underneath his best friend.

He wiped a hand across his face, trying to get rid of the tears blurring his vision, but to no avail.

“No, please. Please Patton wake up.” The villain’s voice was broken by sobs as he tried to gently shake Patton awake.

A rush of adrenaline ran through Virgil’s body when he didn’t see his best friend’s eyes open, making him immediately jump up; he started to quickly pace back and forth, his hands running trough his hair and strongly pulling them in an attempt to ground himself.

He didn’t know what to do? What if he actually hurt him? What if he killed him? _He_ was right he really was monster…

He shook his head trying to get his mind to focus back on the most pressing matter at the moment: Patton was laying on the ground in a pool of his own blood and he _had_ to help him. He could not lose someone else.

He let out a frustrated groan, violently pulling his hands out of his hair, a few strands following them. He didn’t have healing powers. He didn’t know medicine or injury medication, not when it was on someone else.

He let out another groan, feeling the lump in his throat tightening even more and making his chest hurt, the want to scream growing stronger with each intake of breath.

Then suddenly a memory popped into his head, making him stop dead into his tracks, eyes wide.

His mind was immediately transported back to that night a couple of months before, his body pressed against the brick wall of a tall building as he watched the hero kneel beside the lady he had just saved. Her aggressor, who had stabbed her in the side trying to get her to submit, was laying near a dumpster, unconscious, a robe made out of light wrapped around his body to make sure he didn’t get away if he woke up; he was lucky it was the Red Prince to find him and not the Shadow Knight, or else the asshole would not still be breathing and waiting for the authorities to lock him up.

The villain’s attention was brought back to the victim when he heard the gasp softly, a soft and warm light lighting up the space around them. His lips parted slightly as he watched with wide eyes the hero’s hands move softly over the girl’s wound surrounded by a soft hue of light.

When the Red Prince moved back slightly to smile to the person in front of him, the wound was gone.

Virgil’s lips were closed in a tight line as he took a deep breath before quickly going to his room and taking out his mask and cape, hurriedly putting them on.

He knew that might have been a terrible idea. There were so many things that could go wrong. What if the hero blamed him and attacked him? What if he wasn’t home? What would have happened if Logan was the one to open the door?

The villain shook his head quickly. He didn’t have time to worry about that.

So he quickly went over to Patton, gently picking his limp body into his arms and holding him close to his chest. He cringed when he saw how pale his skin was, he could already see the bruises forming around his neck and arms, were the vines were wrapped around.

“I’m so fucking sorry.” He whispered, his voice breaking slightly as he put a strand of hair behind his best friend ear.

Then, shifting slightly so that he could get a friend grip on Patton using only one hand and grabbing his hang-glider, he opened the window and jumped out.


	15. 1.4

**1.4**

Virgil felt like he had been flying for hours; the cold air crashing on his face didn’t help to stop the tears running down his cheeks, only making them run faster.

He was so worried that the man who tormented him for _years_ would have hurt Patton, that he forgot to consider _himself_ as a possible threat. He knew what happened every time he had a panic attack. He knew he was dangerous. And yet he completely forgot about it, only worrying about _him._

Maybe _he_ was right. Maybe he was just like _him._ Dangerous. A monster.

Virgil shook his head, taking a couple of deep breath as he tried to calm down as best as he could before finally landing on the hero’s porch, immediately going to pound his fists on the door as hard as he could, just to make sure he would hear him.

The hero woke up with a start, the hard drumming on his door scaring him awake. He shot a tired look towards his alarm clock before cursing under his breath.

“Who the fuck is trying to take my door down at freaking two in the morning?!” He muttered, rubbing his eyes to try and get the sleep out of them while getting up and walking down stairs.

“Once, just _once_ I was able to finish my patrolling earlier the day before my day off from work and _this_ happens. fan-freaking-tastic. Logan is not even home I could have slept in, but _no_ , let’s wake Roman up at _two in the_ _fucking morning._ ” He shivered as his bare feet touched the marble tiles of the living room, leaving behind the warmth of the wooden floor.

“Yeah, yeah I heard you, I’m coming!” He yelled so that whoever was demanding to be let in could hear. “Geez, this better be important or else imma-” he grumbled as he unlocked the door, but immediately got interrupted as it was shoved open and the Shadow Knight hurriedly marched in.

“Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing! Get out of my house right now!” The hero screamed, quickly recovering from the shock of seeing the villain, his archenemy, barge into his home like he owned the place.

“I swear if you don’t tell me how you knew where I live and then immediately get out, I swear I’m going to kick the ever living shizzle out of you!”

Virgil completely ignored him though taking long strides towards the big beige couch and gently laying Patton’s limp body on it.

“Did you not hear me?!” Roman screamed once again as he started to make his way towards him.

The villain took a second to softly run his finger through his best friend’s hair, getting them out of his eyes, before sharply turning towards the Red Prince, making him stop dead in his tracks.

“Save him.” He said, his voice controlled but shaky. “You’re going to heal him or I’m going to make you regret it.”

It was only then that the hero noticed the guy laying unconscious on his couch. His eyes widened slightly when he recognized him as Patton, the man his brother went on a date with, and his stand immediately changed; he bent his knees slightly and pushed his hands forward, two balls of light surrounding them as he prepared himself to attack.

“Get away from him!” He growled lowly, his eyes widening once again and his anger faltering slightly when the villain acquiesced with an annoyed grunt, clenching his teeth to hold back a snarky remark.

“There. Now heal him.” His voice was cold, but Roman could clearly hear the desperation behind it.

It was then that the hero finally decided to take a second to observe the Shadow King, studying his face carefully: his eyes were red and puffy, the tear stains on his cheeks, despite being barely visible, were clear on his face; even if he was trying to take take deep breaths it was evident that he was struggling.

“What happened?” The hero asked after a few seconds, his voice softer but with still badly hidden suspect. He could see there was something unusual in the villain’s eyes, something he couldn’t quite place; he gave him one last up and down look, noticing how badly his hands were shaking, and how his body language strongly contrasted with his expression and tone of voice.

“That’s none of your business. Just do what you always do and save him. Heal him.” He said coldly as he started pacing back and forth; he was trying to hold up his hard, scowling façade but it was clear that it was slowly breaking.

“I can’t help him if you don’t tell me what happened first.”

His voice was more stern this time, making the villain sigh in exasperation, his mask finally falling, letting his panic and desperation finally take over. The hero _had_ to save him. He didn’t one to lose Patton. He _couldn’t_ lose Patton.

“IT WAS AN ACCIDENT OKAY?” He snapped, his voice cracking slightly as he stopped pacing to look the hero in the eyes, before quickly moving his away. “I-It was an accident, please, I swear, I-I didn’t know he was there, I didn’t want to hurt him, I promise, I…” He stopped, his head dropping, his breath labored as he tried to fight off the third panic attack of the night under the hero’s shocked gaze.

When he spoke again his voice was weak and so low that the Roman almost didn’t hear him.

“Please, just heal him, I’m begging you. Please I can’t lose him too, please, I promise I didn’t want to hurt him.”

He fell to his knees, hiding his once again tear-stained face, shoulders shaking and voice cracking: “ I’m _begging_ you to save him.”

To say that the hero was surprised would have been an euphemism. He didn’t think a villain like the Shadow Knight was able to feel anything other than hatred, let alone affection for someone. But there he was, staring at the “ _bad guy_ ”, the “ _Big Bad Wolf_ ” of the story, breaking into pieces right in front of his eyes, begging him on his knees to save someone he cared for.

“Okay.” He said, voice soft, maybe even sympathetic, and this time with no trace of suspect.

He watched as the Shadow Knight’s shoulder’s relaxed slightly in a sigh of relief as a string of mumbled “thank you”s left his lips and relieved tears escaped his eyes, replacing the once that had fallen from desperation.

The hero just offered him a small smile before turning towards Patton’s limp bodying turning serious.

He got down on his knees, observing the guy’s wounds after gingerly taking off his shirt, before sighing softly once he saw they weren’t all that bad.

He gently laid his hands on the wounds, making the villain flinch slightly at the sight of them, as a warm golden light filled the room.

Virgil observed the scene from his spot on the floor, anxiously biting his thumb and swinging back and forth in an attempt to calm his nerves, not caring about the tears still streaming down his cheeks and uncomfortably drenching his mask.

“It’s okay, it’s gonna be okay, he’s okay, he’s going to be okay…” He kept mumbling over and over liker a mantra, sometimes even adding “I’m sorry”s to the mix, making the hero slightly feel for him. He must really care for the guy.

It took Roman almost half an hour to completely heal Patton, during which Virgil, after he had calmed down a bit and had stopped crying, had got up and started once again pacing back and forth.

The hero stared at him for a few seconds, his back pressed against the couch where Patton was laying as he tried to regain his energy, his breath slightly labored. It always took a lot of energy to heal someone, let alone if it was at two in the morning after a full day of work.

After a few minutes of just sitting on the ground watching as the Shadow Knight paced on his carpet, the hero shook his head; forcing his eyes to stay open, he got up, walking towards the kitchen which was directly connected to the living room, deciding that a cup of tea would help both of them calm down.

He scoffed silently at the thought, shooting a look back towards the guy who was still walking, his eyes never leaving who roman had now decided had to be at least his friend. He was about to make a cup of the for the Shadow Knight. For a villain, a criminal. A _monster_ who killed people. But then again, what monster would come crying begging for the hero to save someone he cared for?

Once again, Roman shook his head.

_What the hell is happening?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm so sorry for the long absence, I had a creativity block for a couple of weeks which made it hard for me to write despite having half of this chapter already typed out, and when that finally kind of passed, my best friend came back into town after like four months and wanted to spend time with her. Sorry again!  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter, let me know what you think is going to happen next!That's it, hope to be able to put out next chapter sooner!   
> Bye!  
> Ali C:


	16. 1.5

**1.5**

“Sit down.” The hero sighed coming back from the kitchen with two warm cups of tea.

The villain just flat out ignored him, continuing to pace back and forth as if trying to dig a hole in his living room’s carpet.

Roman sighed in annoyance, shifting his weight on one foot slightly, still holding the two cups.

“Hey. Sit down.” He repeated, his voice louder and this time getting a response from the guy.

“Don’t tell me what to do.” He growled stopping for a second just to glare towards the hero, who just rolled his eyes, before going back to walking. He could understand that the villain was just worried for his… friend, but pacing back and forth was surely not going to help anybody.

“I said sit down. He is okay. He just needs to wake up, which he will.”

Hearing those words the Shadow Knight stopped once again, narrowing his eyes in suspect.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because whenever I heal someone I make their cells work 10 times faster and exhaust them by doing so, causing them to sleep to gain their energies back. Considering that he didn’t have any major injury he should wake up soon. Now sit your ass down.”

The villain huffed but did as the hero asked, sitting on the edge of the couch where Patton was laying, hesitantly taking the cup Roman was offering him into his hands.

Virgil kept his eyes trained on his best friend, letting his guilt take over for a second before finally asking a question swirling around in his mind.

“If what you’re saying his true, then why didn’t the lady in the ally-way fall asleep after you healed her stab wound?”

After a few seconds of silence, the villain shot a side glance to the hero who was now sitting on a near by arm-chair; Roman was staring at him wide-eyed, his lips slightly parted in surprise.

“Y-you were there?!” He asked.

He instantly understood what the villain was talking about and he vividly remembered that night, and for the life of him he could not find one memory which included the Shadow Knight.

His brows just creased even more when he saw the man in front of him nod almost hesitantly.

“Why didn’t you try to stop me?!”

Once again, the villain’s answer left him flabbergasted.

“Why would I?” His voice was just above a whisper, as if he wasn’t sure of what he was saying, his eyes still trained on his best friend.

The hero just shook his head incredulous. Why would he? What did he mean ‘why would he’?! Why _wouldn’t_ he? He was a villain, that’s what a villain is supposed to do!

“Because you’re a criminal! You-” The hero stopped for a second, sighing harshly through his nose. He didn’t like being confused, and the villain certainly wasn’t helping by gently running his fingers through Patton’s hair. “You know what, never mind.” He grumbled.

Virgil just chuckled slightly, shaking his head.

“I thought by now you would have noticed that _you_ are the one always stopping me, not the other way around Princey.”

At that comment the hero’s brows shot up in surprise. He had never thought about that, but it was true. The Shadow Knight had never tried to stop him from doing anything as far as he could remember. But could anyone really blame him for not returning the favor? He was a villain, he literally _killed_ innocent people. It had been years since Roman had started hanging the photos of the Shadow Knight’s victims on a white board, trying with his brother’s help to find a link between them unsuccessfully, and he was running out of space because of how many there were. Why would anyone _not_ try to stop him?

“You still haven’t answered my question.” Virgil said after a few seconds of silence.

The hero shook his head for a second, as if to try and shook off a thought, before looking back at the villain who was watching him with his head slightly tilted to the right in curiosity.

“Adrenaline. She had just survived an attack by a man who literally stabbed her, and being high on adrenaline she managed to not fall asleep after I healed her.”

Virgil still looked suspicious, but just nodded before going back to gently brushing Patton’s hair.

“What did actually happen?” The hero asked after a few moments, breaking the silence and immediately earning a glare from the villain.

“I already told you it was an accident.” He answered through clenched teeth.

Roman just raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, but what caused it?”

The Shadow Knight didn’t answer, resorting instead to turning back towards his friend, making the hero sigh in annoyance.

“Fine don’t tell me.” He grumbled. “How did you know where I lived anyway?” He asked, almost as a second thought.

The villain teased up, his hand stopping and his eyes avoiding the hero’s questioning look.

When Roman realized that the Shadow Knight was reluctant to answer even that question, his expression hardened, becoming more serious.

“You woke me up at 2 in the morning by knocking frantically on my door, before rushing in with a limp body in your arms demanding me to heal him and refusing to tell me what happened. Considering the circumstances I think I deserve to know at _least_ how you found out where I lived.”

Virgil stared at the hero for a few seconds, lips pulled in a tight line, debating whether or not to tell him the truth.

After all the hero was right. He was his “arch enemy” and was known to be this bad guy who killed people. It wasn’t a surprised that he wanted to know how he found him. Plus he did kind of owned it to him, considering the fact that he had helped him despite how suspicious the situation was.

So, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes for a second, the villain answered his question.

“I followed you. The night you found me following Patton and Thomas, I followed you home.”

Roman looked at him, surprised, the Shadow Knight could almost see all the question swirling around in his mind just by looking in his eyes.

“Why?” He finally decided to ask. Why would the villain follow him home and not attack him?

“I… I don’t know. I guess I just wanted to make sure I wouldn’t find you beaten up and unconscious in an ally again.” Virgil shrugged, too tired to actually process what he was saying.

Roman furrowed his eyebrows, confused. The villain was the one who beat him up. _He_ was the one to knock him out. Why would anyone do something like that and then act like nothing happened? Even to the point of following their victim home to _make sure they got there safely_?

Before he could voice any of his questions, though, Patton shifted slightly on the couch, immediately getting their attention.

“V-Vee?”


	17. 1.6

**1.6**

Virgil froze as he stared wide eyed at a slowly waking up Patton, relief washing over him immediately. He was okay. He was waking up. He was talking. He was not dead, the villain didn’t kill him. He could feel the huge weight he had been carrying around lift off of his shoulders as he heard his best friend’s soft voice call out one of his many nicknames for him.

Then dread filled him. It had taken him a second to realize he was still in the hero’s presence, and that the Red Prince probably heard the nickname too. He paled a little before sending a sideway glance towards the hero who was wearing a confused and surprised expression.

For a few seconds no one said anything, then, after taking a couple of deep, calming breaths, Virgil bend down, gently taking Patton in his arms, smiling a bit at his whining in protest.

“Ssh, Popstar, hey. I’m just going to take you home, okay? Then you can sleep for however long you want.” He whispered softly, watching with a small fond smile as his best friend nodded and buried his face further in his chest.

When he looked up, meeting the hero’s surprised gaze, his smile disappeared and he was unable to hide the blush that lightly coated his cheeks.

“Don’t you think it’s fair that I know part of your name too? You know, since you know part of mine?” Virgil asked after a few seconds of silence, sending an almost shy look to the hero.

Roman thought about it for a second. It did seem fair for him to share- no! What the hell was he doing?! He knew full well that if Logan had been there he would have probably slapped him over the head for how idiotic he was about to sound. He was really almost about to give his name up to his arch enemy? When he already knew where he lived?! His eyes hardened as he stared at the man in front of him.

“No.” He dead-panned. He was not about to talk about what was and wasn’t fair with someone who literally killed people. “You got what you came for, now get out of my house before I change my mind and turn you over to the authorities.”

Virgil just stared at him for a few seconds, eyes wide in shock. He wasn’t expecting such a sudden change, but after all what was he hoping for? He was talking to someone who pretty much considered him a monster, he couldn’t expect for him to be nice with him for the rest of the night. The only reason he had helped him was because he was a hero. And he had a hurt civilian with him.

“I won’t say it again, get out of my house. I warn you, I can change my mind very quickly.” Roman reiterated, going over to the door and opening it for him, making the villain immediately nod and turn around, before stopping dead in his tracks.

“Thank you.” He whispered, so lowly that the hero had to strain to be able to catch it, his face immediately morphing into one of confusion and surprise.

“For what?”

Virgil was not looking at him, but at the man in his arms, his eyes showing just how much he cared for him and his arms holding him a little tighter, before turning serious and shooting The red Prince a glance.

“For healing him without accusing me of hurting him, even if you see me as a villain.” He said, his voice still a low whisper as an almost invisible blush covered his cheeks.

The hero was way too shocked to say anything, not expecting the Shadow Knight to thank him.

“You’re-” But Roman didn’t get to finish his sentence, because the villain had already vanished in the darkness of the night, the gush of cold air from his hang-glider and the small blood stains on the hero’s white couch the only things to prove he was even there.

The next couple of days were just a confused haze in Roman’s mind, not able to wrap his head around what had happened with the villain.

Since the night where he asked him to heal his friend, the Shadow Knight hadn’t made an appearance, he seemed completely vanished.

The hero shook his head, heading back home form his daily job and readying himself to finally confront his brother about what had happen.

Logan had jus come back from a three days trip to visiting their father and getting new pieces from his experiments from their family laboratory.

Roman took a deep breath, trying to psychologically prepare himself for the massive freak out his brother was about to get in as soon as he heard what had happen to his boyfriend.The nerd might not have had fighting powers like his brother had, but the immense rage he was able to store in his 5’7 body mixed with his freakishly high intelligence were more than enough to make someone shit their pants right then and there.

With a sigh the hero finally decided to open the door, immediately being greeted by Logan, who was fidgetings with some gadgets on the kitchen table.

“Good evening Roman. How was your weekend?” He asked, not lifting his eyes from the pice of metal he was working on.

“Very eventful, I must say.” His answer made Logan look up from his project, an eyebrow arched when he saw his brother cringe slightly before continuing his sentence. “And something happened… with Patton.”

As soon as this words left his mouth, he had Logan’s full on attention, his eyes immediately filling with worry.

“Is he okay? Did something happen? Is he hurt? Is Thomas okay?” He started asking frantically, getting up from where he was sitting, as the hero tried to calm him down.

“Okay, stop freaking out, he’s totally okay now, but a couple of days ago I was woken up at 2 am, which if you ask me is so fucking rude, like come on, I need my beauty sleep, a face like this doesn’t come without any strug-”

“Roman, focus, please!” His brother exclaimed, interrupting his tangent, his hands going to impatiently grab the hero’s wrists to stop his wild gestures.

“Right, sorry,” he laughed nervously before continuing. “When I went to open the door, the Shadow Knight just barged in holding Patton passed out in his arms and demanded for me to heal him.” Roman watched his brother’s eyes widen in worry as his face got progressively redder the more his words sunk in, making anger rise up inside of him. “He told me it was an accident and even started crying, falling to his knees and begging me to heal him.”

Logan did not hear that last part, though, his rage fogging his senses as he just started speed walking towards the door.

“Hey, wit! Where the hell are you going?!” Roman yelled behind him, only getting him to stop for a second.

“To make sure my boyfriend is okay.” He seethed before throwing the door open, “And that motherfucker of a villain better pray I don’t meet him in the street or you’ll have to bail me out of jail for murder.”

And with that, he slammed the door behind him, not even bothering to take his jacket.


	18. 1.7

**1.7**

In the two days following the accident, Virgil did nothing but watch over Patton, apologizing over and over again to the point of almost driving him insane and making Thomas giggle a lot.

“What do you mean you’re going back to work?” Virgil exclaimed worried as he followed Patton around the apartment.

“Come on kiddo, put your shoes on so you can go down to Valerie, mmh?” The fatherly guy said to his son, making Thomas nod excitedly and run to do as he was told.

The villain was about to go visit Kayad to tell him about his nightmare, he found out that his best friend was getting ready to go to work instead of resting.

“Patton you can not go to work already! You need to rest, it’s already bad enough you got hurt in the first place because of me, I don’t want you to hurt yourself more!”

The fatherly guys turned around, giving a stern look to his best friend, who was already in his costume,.

“Virgil, stop. It’s not your fault I got hurt. We’ve been living together for five years, I know perfectly well that when you are panicking I should make my presence known before approaching you and I didn’t do that.” He walked towards him and wrapped him in a hug, only then realizing how tense he actually was. “I’m okay. You took me to the hero and let him heal me remember? Yes, I was a bit sore, but I’ve been resting for two days.” He pulled away gently, keeping the villain at arm length, before offering him a soft smile. “I’m okay. I have to get back to work sooner or later and you told me you wanted to visit Kayad again, so let’s get it okay?”

Virgil nodded, still hesitant, before going back to his room to grab his mask and hang-glider. The night hadn’t fallen yet, but thanks to the short winter days it was already dark enough for him to fly and not get noticed.

“Oh come on, where the fuck did I put it?” He mumbled as he looked though his closet to find his mask.

Unfortunately for him, he was so focused on his search that he didn’t even hear the three sharp knock on their front door, nor the familiar sound of the door opening and closing.

Hearing someone knocking at the door, Patton frowned confused. He wasn’t expecting someone and he was sure Virgil wasn’t either. Knowing him he would have never organized to meet up with someone and then forget about it.

“Who is it dad?” Thomas asked curiously from his room as he was choosing what to bring down to Valerie with him for the next couple of hours.

“I don’t know kiddo.” Patton answered and before they could knock again, the fatherly guy ran to the door and looked through the peep-hole, a big smile appearing on his face when he saw his boyfriend on the other side.

“Logan!” He exclaimed happily, immediately opening the door to greet him.

The nerdy guy didn’t waste anytime before hugging his boyfriend with a relieved sigh, making the other hiss in pain slightly, still sore for what happened a few days before.

“Oh thank Tesla, you’re okay! I was so worried, a friend of mine told me they saw that villain run out of your apartment complex with you passed out in his arms! I was worried sick.” He explained, gently tightening his arms around Patton, who was softly rubbing his back trying to comfort him; he didn’t like the way Logan talked about his best friend, calling him a villain and spitting out that word as if tasted bitter, but he decided to let it slide for the moment. He would have explained everything to him later, when he would have calmed down.

He didn’t have the time though, because as soon as that thought crossed his mind, Virgil came out of his room, already walking towards the window, before freezing dead in his tracks seeing another person in the apartment.

Not any person, but _Logan,_ his best friend’s boyfriend and the hero’s brother. And by the look of sheer hatred and rage that he was shooting him while still hugging Patton, the villain assumed the hero had put him up to date with what had happened.

“You.” Virgil felt all the blood drain from his face as he watched Logan pull away from the hug and storm towards him. “How dare come here after what you did?! You should be ashamed of yourself!” He yelled storming towards the villain and jabbing his finger on his chest, not noticing how the other’s hands had started to shake.

“You hurt the kindest, nicest person is this town to the point where he was unconscious! How can you sleep at night? He has a _son_ , he could have _died_.” 

Virgil wanted to run, he could feel his heart beat so fast he was afraid it would jump out of his chest, but his body was frozen in place. He opened his mouth, trying to get his words out, to at least provide some kind of explanation, but any and every kind of sound died in his throat.

“Logan stop.” Patton said sternly, immediately noticing how his best friend’s breathing became erratic, recognizing the signs of an oncoming panic attack. But his boyfriend didn’t stop.

“What kind of _monster_ would be able to do something like that and not only live with themselves but even go to their house.” Logan laughed falsely. By then Virgil was mildly aware of the tears running down his cheeks and of Patton and Thomas’ voices as they tried to get the nerd to stop yelling.

“But why would I even bother, after all I’m talking to someone who fucking ki-”

“ _ENOUGH._ That’s enough Logan.” Patton screamed, pitting himself between the two. The other’s eyes widened seeing the glare he ever sweet boyfriend was shooting his way. “Stop it, or I will kick you out of _our_ apartment faster than you can say books. It was not his fault-”

“Uncle V!” Thomas said interrupting the conversation and running to the window.

Having seen the moment of distraction, Virgil had taken the occasion to grab his hang glider and fly away, not even noticing the hero he passed by looking at him with curious eyes.

Patton sighed sadly, watching as his best friend vanished in the already dark sky.

“It wasn’t his fault Logan. He would never hurt me on purpose.”

Logan looked at him confused as his boyfriend turned around, a stern look still in his eyes.

“He has severe anxiety and two days ago when he ‘attacked’ me, as you said, he was in the middle of a panic attack and I approached him from behind without making my presence known. It was my fault. I scared him and he reacted, noticing it was me too late.”

There was silence for a second before the nerd finally broke it.

“But… he’s a villain-” He said confused, but immediately got interrupted by Thomas.

“Uncle V is not a villain, he helps people! And you made him cry!” He yelled, glaring up at Logan who just looked at him surprised, only then registering the fact that his boyfriend’s son called the villain ‘uncle’.

“V is not actually his uncle, but he is my best friend and I care about him just like he was my brother. And Thomas is right he is not a villain. He helps people. And you should apologize to him.”

Meanwhile, Virgil just kept flying, looking for a place where he could just be alone and calm down.

It didn’t matter that as far as he knew Logan didn’t have any powers, getting yelled at like that when he wasn’t prepared always sent him spiraling. Getting called a monster was only the cherry on top of the cake, his mind sending him flashbacks of all the times _he_ told him he was just like him. A monster. Taking him back to all the actually innocent lives he had to take.

He shook his head, trying to get rid of the thoughts, before landing on a low tree branch in the middle of a field.

He took a couple of deep breaths, quickly drying his eyes and running his hands through his hair, trying to calm down. He realized he was being followed a couple of minutes after leaving the apartment but he didn’t have the energies nor did he care enough to try and leave the hero behind. Still, he hated being this vulnerable, especially if it was in front of someone like the Red Prince.

Finally, after a good five minutes, Virgil managed to calm down enough to feel comfortable confronting the hero.

He sighed hearing yet another branch breaking behind him.

“You know you suck at being sneaky right?”


	19. 1.8

**1.8**

Roman went bright red, freezing on the spot as he was trying to peek from behind the tree. He knew he was making way too much noise, but he was hoping the villain would have been way too distracted to notice.

“I’m sorry.” He said after a few seconds of silence. He didn’t really know why he was apologizing; sure, following someone wasn’t really _nice_ , but the guy he was following was a villain and, as the hero of the town, he had to make sure he didn’t do anything bad.

Plus, even if he hated admitting it, he saw the Shadow Knight’s face at the apartment. He saw the raw fear and panic slowly filling his eyes as his brother yelled at him. He saw the tears once again falling down his cheeks after Logan called him a monster. And despite their opposite roles, a part of him couldn’t help but want to make sure he was okay.

The villain’s scoffing brought him back from his thoughts, making him look back up at him, seeing the guy just hunched over, a frown on his face as he slightly kicked his legs.

“You can drop the act Princey.” He said gloomily, almost with a little bitter chuckle. He didn’t even look at the hero as he flew on the branch and sat beside him, taking some of his weight off so that it wouldn’t break and observing the other curiously. “I know why you’re here. And I know you won’t believe me. But I didn’t want to hurt him. It was an accident. I would _never_ intentionally hurt Patton and I _hate_ myself for what I did to him.” He said, a single tear running down his face, as rage, hatred and regret filled his voice.

The hero didn’t say anything for a couple of seconds, observing as the villain roughly dried his cheek, the rough material of his glove leaving a red trail on the already irritated skin.

“I believe you.” Roman whispered his eyes softening watching the surprised expression on the Shadow Knight’s face.

The villain had turned towards him so quickly he was pretty sure he heard his neck crack.

The hero offered him a small smile as Virgil just stared at him in confusion. He believed him? He actually belived _him_? A villain? A _monster_ who killed people?

“Y-You believe me?” He said in a chocked murmur.

Roman shrugged. “I mean, yes. After years of being a hero, I can tell when someone actually regrets something and when they are just faking it to get away with it. So, I believe you.”

They just looked at each other for a few seconds, the villain still couldn’t believe his ears and the hero still struggled to wrap his head around the fact that he just told his enemy that he believed his innocence.

“I’m sorry about Logan.” The Red Prince finally said, not really knowing where to start. “I tried to tell him that it had been an accident, but I don’t think he listened to anything I said after I told him you showed up at 2 am with Patton passed out in your arms.”

The hero chuckled trying to lighten the mood, but stopped when he saw the other shake his head slightly.

“No. He was right. I wouldn’t expect him to believe me nor apologize. Accident or not, I hurt Patton.”

Once again, silence fell between them, heavy with fresh guilt for one and with confusion and curiosity for the other. After a few minutes Virgil broke the silence, his voice still low and dark.

“If you’re not here to accuse me, then why are you? Why follow me all the way here?”

Roman didn’t answer for a few moments, not expecting the question yet at the same time fearing it. _Why_ did he follow him? Did he _actually_ want to get an answer about what happened? And if that’s the case then why hasn’t he asked about it yet?

“I don’t know.” He finally decided to answer, not looking at him. “I guess I just saw you were in distress and wanted to make sure you were okay.”

The hero shoot the villain a look out of the corner of his eye, just in time to see his surprised expression harden into a more serious one.

“We’re not friends, Princey. Don’t think that the fact that I came to you for help will stop me from keep going with what I’m doing. I have no intention to stop, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

The villain jumped off the brach, graciously landing on the soft carpet of leaves without making any noise and started walking away, already started to grab his hang-glider.

Roman clenched his fists at that answer, feeling anger bubble up inside of him. In that moment the awareness of who he was sitting beside just seconds before hit him in the face as hard as a punch. He was sitting beside a killer. Someone who kills people. Who has _already_ killed a lot of people.

“Why? Why did you fight to save him? What makes Patton different from any of the other people you’ve killed? What makes him _special_?” He asked. His voice was no longer soft and gentle, but it had a darker undertone, it was angrier, more on edge.

The Shadow Knight’s stopped, barely turning around, just slightly glaring back at the hero.

“He’s innocent.” He said, his answer slightly flooring the hero.

Virgil didn’t even give Roman the time to answer or question him, before opening his hand-glider and flying away, leaving the Red Prince to just watch his figure disappear into the distance.


	20. 1.9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of child abuse, crying, fire.

**1.9**

It was in that moment, while watching full of confusion and questions as the villain’s figure got smaller and smaller in the distance, that Roman decided to make it his mission to understand his enemy better.

Never in his life had he ever met someone as confusing and mysterious as the Shadow Knight. And he had always hated being confused; it frustrated him to the max and made him feel like he had no control over what was happening.

So, slowly, he started following him around, paying more attention to how he worked and how he acted.

Initially he was able to follow him without a problem, but soon the Shadow Knight seemed to be starting to notice something was going on; his moves started becoming stealthier and more careful, making it way more difficult for Roman to follow him.

Obviously, that didn’t stop the hero from still trying.

Virgil scoffed as he heard the hero move behind the corner of the roof’s exit. How could someone who’s a hero be so bad at being stealthy?

“Princey, Linda Bove is deaf and even she would have been able to hear you rustling around behind there.” He said rolling his eyes and turning around.

There was silence for a few seconds, the sigh and the hero appeared, dusting off his superhero suite.

“Sesame Street uh? Wouldn’t have expected something like that from a Mr. Dark and Brooding like you.”

Virgil glared at him, not moving away from the edge of the skyscraper’s roof.

“Why are you following me Princey?” He said in a dry voice, making the small nervous smile vanish from the hero’s lips.

“Why wouldn’t I, Brad Pitiful? You’re a villain.”

The villain scoffed turning his back to the Red Prince.

“Whatever.” He growled, before jumping over the edge.

He quickly grabbed onto one of the windowsills and formed a humanoid shadow, making it fall to the ground and run through the alley.

As he had expected, the hero took the bait and ran after the illusion, giving Virgil just enough time to grab his hang-glider and fly in the opposite direction.

He was almost home when a scream made him land on the roof of one of the houses. Usually he wouldn’t have stopped, the city had a hero for a reason, but this was a child’s scream. He couldn’t just ignore it and move on with his life.

With an anxious sigh and a roll of his eyes, Virgil turned back around and jumped right off of the edge of the building, his hang-glider held tightly in his hands.

He stopped on another roof, listening, waiting for a sound to guide him to the child. For a few seconds nothing happened, then another scream. The villain threw himself towards the noise Finding himself right in front of the window of a small apartment in the outskirt of the city.

Carefully he started getting closer, trying to look inside without getting spotted; the room was small and almost completely empty if not for the old and dirty looking mattress in one of the corners. With only a candle to illuminate the room, it took him a second to spot a child curled up on it, trying to make themself look as small as they could as who Virgil could only assume was their legal guardian towered over them.

The small boy whimpered, covering himself with his arms as the man went to hit him again.

It all happened in a matter of seconds: before Virgil could even barge into the room to stop him, the man bumped into the candle, making it fall right tenet to the mattress which immediately caught fire.

Without even thinking about it but with just the child cries in his ears, the Shadow Knight dived into the room and grabbed the boy, holding him tightly against his chest and immediately heading back to the window.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?! Save _me,_ not that little fucking brat!” The man yelled running towards him to avoid the quickly spreading flames.

Virgil just yelled at him fiercely before using his shadows to lock the room’s door, trapping the man.

“You brought this death upon yourself. And I hope every seconds of it hurts as much as you hurt this boy.” He growled, before climbing over the window sill. “See you in hell.”

The villain clenched his teeth as he tried to climb to the roof of the building using just one arm. He could hear the child crying in his chest; in any other situation he would have stopped and tried to make the boy smile, he looked around 8 year old and it broke his heart to see him this hurt. Unfortunately though, this wasn’t the right moment to play big brother.

Virgil looked up trying to calculate how far he would have to climb to get to the room before the flames did; his breath was labored and his grip was slipping; his legs were burning, little droplets of sweat were starting to roll down his face. He still had five floors to go and he knew his chances of making it are low.

So, after gathering what was left of his energy, he took control of as many shadows as he could, making them wrap around their bodies and lift them to the roof.

Ones his feet finally touched the ground though, his knees gave out. He usually wouldn’t feel this drained from using his powers, but with everything that had been happening lately and his nightmares and paranoia getting worse, he wasn’t able to get enough sleep and recharge his energies.

The villain just stayed there for a few seconds, trying to even his breath out as the child kept quietly crying in his arms, before slowly getting up.

“Shh, hey it’s okay.” He said, hugging the boy tightly, trying to comfort him. “You’re sa-”

“Put him down!” The hero yelled suddenly, interrupting the villain and making the boy jump.

The Red Prince elegantly landed on the roof his powers showing in his bright golden eyes, as he completely ignored the glare the Shadow Knight was shooting him.

Of all of the times the hero could have chosen to come and bother him that was probably one of the worst ones.

The flames were rising higher, climbing the building, and in the distance they could start hearing the police and firefighter’s sirens approaching.

The villain didn’t say anything for a moment, his gaze going from the Red prince to the crying kid. Then in a sudden decision he made thick black smoke raise from the ground with a quick movement of the hand, clouding the hero’s vision and giving himself enough time to run to the edge of the skyscraper.

He held the child even tighter in his arms, trying to provide comfort.

“Hold on tight and do not let go.” He whispered.

Then he jumped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm on a roll with inspiration for this story so in a bit there's gonna be yet another chapter, then im going to try and update my other stories and leave you guys on a bit of a cliff-hanger hehehe. ;)
> 
> As always let me know what you think of the chapter and feel free to point out any mistakes/typos you may find!
> 
> Bye! 
> 
> Ali!


	21. 2.0

**2.0**

Roman scoffed as he tried his best to bat away all the smoke. He couldn’t believe the villain was once again able to escape him! And with an innocent child this time!

The hero ran to the edge, watching the Shadow Knight’s figure become smaller in the distance. He seemed to have been doing that a lot lately, just staying there looking as his enemy got away, but not this time.

Taking a few steps backwards, he threw himself off the edge quickly following the two and thanking every god and goddess that came to mind after seeing how the added weight of the child made the villain move slower than usual.

Despite having the advantage of being lighter, it still took a while for the hero to catch up the Shadow Knight, seeing him enter in a rundown building in the outskirts of the city once he was finally close enough.

Roman quickly put his back to the outside wall next to the window, discretely looking in.

The villain was gently laying the kid down on a ruined and old looking mattress, gently prying his hands open to break the hug.

The hero observed the two quietly, the soft look in the Shadow Knight’s eyes leaving him even more confused about who was that supposed enemy of his. He almost felt as if he was intruding on someone’s private moment.

Roman stayed out for a few more minutes, debating on what to do, looking as the villain took a heavy comforter out of the only furniture there, gently laying it on the shivering child. Then finally, the hero decided it would have been best to leave them alone for the moment; after all the guy didn’t seem to be doing anything bad and the child seemed comfortable, there was no need of putting him under more stress than he hadn’t already been under.

“What the hell am I even doing?” He murmured to himself with a sigh, before flying higher and getting into the building a couple of floors up; he would let this slide for the moment for the sake of the boy, but as soon as he would have been out of the picture he wanted to make sure he could get his hands on the villain.

So after sending a quick text to his brother to tell him he wouldn’t have come home that night, he made himself as comfortable as he could and closed his eyes.

A couple of floors under, Virgil was gently cleaning the child’s wounds, icing where needed and apologizing every time he flinched as the boy’s eyes studied him carefully.

“What’s your name?” He asked after a few minutes of silence.

The boy looked at him for a few more seconds before finally answering, “E-Emile.” Making the villain smile a bit as he started to put the medications away.

Emile hesitated a bit before adding, “What’s yours?” His head tilting slightly to the right in curiosity.

Virgil’s eyes widened a bit in surprise, not expecting him to ask anything. He stayed silent, shooting a look out of the window; he knew the hero had followed them. He knew he had been watching them from the window, and he was sure he didn’t go away, but just flew a few floors higher, probably not wanting to traumatize the child more.

Usually he wouldn’t reveal his name, not knowing what use the other person would make of it, but he couldn’t help but put himself in Emile’s shoes: he was abused at home and had just escaped an house fire with a man he didn’t know and who was known for being a villain. He could only imagine how scared he could be.

Only when the boy’s breath hitched though did the Shadow Knight realize he had been silent for a minute too long, making Emile think he had asked the wrong thing.

“Tell you what,” Virgil was quick to say smiling,” If I tell you, do you promise to keep it a secret?”

Seeing the smile the villain was offering him, the boy relaxed a bit, nodding and looking at him with big expecting eyes.

“My name’s Virgil.” He continued then, slowly taking his mask off, making Emile’s eyes widen even more.

“But remember now that you know who I am, you can’t tell anyone okay? It has to be our secret.” He said, laughing slightly when he saw the kid nod vigorously.

“I promise I won’t tell anyone!” He said, bringing a hand to his mouth and acting as if he was locking his lips.

Virgil chuckled a bit, shaking his head.

“How old are you, little one?” He asked, getting up to put the first aid kit in the small drawer where he took it out of.

“I’m seven!”

“Oh really?” He said, smiling as he went to sit down beside the mattress when he saw Emile nodding and snuggling more into the comforter with a small shiver.

There were a few minutes of silence and Virgil almost thought the other had fallen asleep, until the kid spoke.

“Hey Virgil?” He called making him hum in acknowledgment.

“Why did you help me?”

The villain’s eyes widened in surprise at the sleepy question Emile had asked. It took him a few seconds to recover from the shock, before finally answering.

“Because you needed help and I didn’t want you to keep suffering.” He mumbled, still in surprise.

Emile just smiled snuggling in the warmth of the blanket, closing his eyes.

“When I grow up, I wanna help people too.” He mumbled sleepily, yawning. What he said next was nothing more than a whisper, but Virgil still managed to hear it: “I wanna be a hero like you.”

A single tear ran down the Shadow Knight’s cheek, the biggest smile he had smiled in a while adorning his lips; it was the first time someone called him a hero.

He watched Emile fall asleep, before closing his eyes, memories of when that empty room was his home back when he was 18 and had just escaped with Kayad running freely through his mind, and for the first time in a long while, he fell in a calm, dreamless sleep.


	22. 2.1

**2.1**

The next day, Virgil woke up to something warm laying on his chest. He opened his eyes, slowly looking down, just to see Emile laying peacefully on his chest, his head on his shoulder and his hands holding on tightly to his costume.

He smiled, feeling his heart squeeze a little at the view; as much as he wanted to take the little guy in and give him the best life he could, he knew at the moment that wouldn’t have been possible.

So taking his phone, he composed a familiar number, waiting for someone to answer.

“Hey what’s up man? It’s been a while!” Joan answered cheerily, making Virgil smile slightly.

They had been really good friends with Patton since childhood, and in those ten years they had known the villain, they had always been there for them.

“Hey Joan.” He whispered, trying his best not to wake Emile up.

“Wait, why are you whispering?” They asked and Virgil could just hear the confusion in their voice.

“Well…” He started, dragging out the ‘e’ more than he should have, earning a sigh of exasperation from his friend.

“Okay, what have you done this time? What kind of troubles did you put yourself in?”

The villain giggled at that. In the ten years him and Patton had been friends, there was never a time where Joan and their partner Talyn weren’t ready to help him; they were even two of the very few people who knew who he actually was and what he did.

So, going into this, he knew he was doing the right thing.

“I helped a kid yesterday night.” He stated, his voice still low.

“Okay, and…?”

Virgil stayed silent for a few seconds waiting to see if their friend would figure it out for themselves.

“Oh for fuck’s sake, don’t tell me you impulsively adopted him.”

Once again the villain didn’t say anything in response to his friend’s exasperated comment, starting to gently fiddle with Emile’s hair instead.

“V, you can’t just adopt a kid you saved-”

“I know!” He interrupted them, still whispering, “I know, it’s just… he went through so much Joan and he is only seven. He… He kind of reminds me of myself.”

There was a second of silence on the other line, and for a moment Virgil thought they were going to turn him down; he didn’t want Emile to get put into the system. He didn’t know why or how he got so attached to the kid so quickly, he just knew that for some reason he couldn’t even stand the thought of that child being put in an orphanage.

“Fine.” Joan sighed dramatically. “What do you need me to do?”

The villain couldn’t contain the smile that formed on his lips, as joy filled his body.

“Thank you, Joan. Thank you so much!”

“Yeah, yeah, cut to the chase emo.” They said jokingly, making Virgil chuckle.

“Okay, okay. I just need you to take him in for a while. I’m in a bad situation at the moment and-”

“Wait, why? What happened?” His friend immediately asked worried, making the villain’s smile slowly disappear.

“Someone from my past is back and I can’t risk putting a kid in a situation like that. It’s way too dangerous and considering this person in particular was the one who kept me prisoner for most of my life, I don’t think having Emile with me is the best idea.”

“I’ll have a bed ready in an hour, be here by then.” Joan said after a moment of silence, his voice serious. They didn’t need to know exactly what it was that Virgil went through in his youth. They saw the aftermath, they saw the scars left behind, and that was more than enough to know that Virgil was right. Emile couldn’t stay with him.

“Thank you Joan. I owe you one.” Virgil smiled relieved before hanging up.

The villain took a few deep breaths, calming down, then, smiling, he looked down at the kid still cuddled into his chest. He knew it was a bit early for him, but he needed to get him to the other side of the city in an hour, so he needed to wake him up.

“Hey, little one.” He said softly, gently shaking his shoulder.

Emile didn’t day anything, but just let out a groan and cuddled more into his arms, his eyes tightly shut.

“Come on, E. You have to wake up, there’s someone I want you to meet.” Hearing this words, Emile slowly got up, using his small fists to rub sleep off of his eyes.

“Do we have to?” He mumbled tiredly, making Virgil chuckle slightly.

“Yeah, little one, we do. You’ll be staying with them for a while, so I wanted to be the one to introduce them to you.” He explained, not missing the way the kid’s eyes widened and started to get glossy. His eyebrows furrowed in concern, his smile immediately dropping.

“Hey no, what’s wrong?” He asked, his hand immediately going to dry a lonely tear that managed to escape, ignoring the way the kid flinched for a second at the movement.

“N-nothing…” Emile said softly, looking away, making the villain once again smile softly, trying to meet the child’s eyes.

“Now, that does not look like ‘nothing’, does it?”

Emile looked down, his hands going to play with the hem of Virgil’s costume. “I-I just shout that m-maybe I c-could stay with you…?” He mumbled, more like a question than an affirmation, making the villain’s heart constrict painfully.

He wished he could take the kid in, he would have done it in the bat of an eye, if it wasn’t for the situation he was in.

“Oh, darling,”he started with a sigh, “ Truest me, if I could I would have taken you in immediately, but right now I’m in a really bad situation.” He stopped for a second, his lips in a straight line as he tried to find the right words to explain what was happening without scaring the kid. Emile deserved an explanation. “You see, a man much like your father is trying to get to me right now, and I don’t want you getting hurt because I decided to keep you with me despite the danger.”

Emile looked at him wide eyed for a few seconds before his eyebrows furrowed in worry.

“But what if you get hurt? I don’t want you getting hurt!” He exclaimed, making the villain chuckle once again.

“I won’t get hurt little one. I promise. Now come on, I want to see you smile.” He reassured him, making a stupid face to get Emile to giggle. “There you go, that’s what I wanted to see. Now let’s go, or my friend will get mad for making them wait!”

The kid whined but got up and, after dusting both of their clothes off, he picked up Emile, completely ignoring the way his body screamed in pain over the still uncared for injuries.

“Ready?” He asked, slipping his mask on and stopping by the window. He took out his hang-glider and looked down at Emile with a smile, waiting for his answer. The kid nodded and without a second thought, Virgil jumped.

A few floors higher, the hero observed as the two flew away, immediately jumping out of the window and silently following them, bending the light to not be visible.

He sighed in relief when, after what was almost a forty-five minutes flight, the two finally landed in the outskirt of the town, right outside of a nice two story house.

Roman’s eyes narrowed as he watched the villain gently set the kid down and knock on the door a couple of times. Where had he taken him? Was it safe? Should he intervene?

Before he could even as much as put an end to his thoughts though, the door opened, revealing a a slightly short person with an orange beanie on who just greeted the Shadow Knight as if they were old friends.

Roman stood there, wide eyed, as he observed the gentle manners the villain had with the child in surprise. He saw him take something off of his neck and putting it on the kid’s before hugging him tightly.

Virgil waved at Emile with a small sad smile as the door closed behind him and Joan, but his smile vanished as soon as he heard the hero land behind him.

“Who was that guy and why did you gave him the child?” He asked, his hand outstretched with his palm towards Virgil, his power ready to be used.

The villain growled as he slowly turned around with his hands up to glare at the Red Prince.

“ _They_ are my friend and the kid is safe with _them_.” He answered, putting as much emphasis as he could on the correct pronouns Joan used. “You can check on their background but you won’t find anything wrong. They’re an amazing person and friend, who just decided to help me out with the kid.”

Roman let out an annoyed breath through the nose before quickly moving forward and grabbing the villain’s wrists.

“Fine,” He said, bringing his wrists behind his back and tying them with some handcuffs he made out of light, “But you’re coming with me.”


	23. 2.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: mentions of bad crimes, also probably many mistake as i wrote this chapter while i had covid lol

**2.2**

They flew over the town, the villain tied up and dangling from the hero’s hands. Roman had bended the light in a way that would have made them invisible, and he was too wrapped up in his thoughts to notice the way the villain had paled and screwed his eyes shut tightly, going completely stiff.

He just… he couldn’t believe he had assumed someone’s gender. It was something he hated doing, hell he usually tried his best to avoid doing it; he had friends who were non-binary and they had told him how uncomfortable it can be to correct someone, and there he was having to be the one being corrected! By a _villain_ nonetheless.

He was just so concerned about the kid and what could have happened to him, about what the villain was doing and who was he giving the kid to, that the pronouns of the personhe was observing didn’t even cross his mind.

“I’m sorry.” He finally started, catching Virgil’s attention who risked a look at him before screwing his eyes shut again. “I shouldn’t have assumed your friend’s gender. It was wrong and disrespectful of me.”

The villain would have lied if he said he wasn’t surprised; sure, the apology was said through gritted teeth, but it was sincere and he could tell tone was only given by who he was talking to. After all the Red Prince was still a hero talking to a villain.

They flew for almost an hour before finally getting to Roman’s house. They entered through the attic window and Virgil sighed in relief as he was thrown on a a chair, swallowing his nausea and taking a couple of deep breaths before putting on his usual snarky façade.

With a snap of his fingers, roman made the light chains around the villain disappear, only leaving the hand-cuffs on, knowing full well the villain couldn’t run away without him stopping him.

The hero sat down in front of the Shadow knight, a table in between them, ignoring the villain’s eyes following his every step.

They studied each other for a few minutes, silently challenging each other to look away first. Up until that moment the hero had never noticed the violet undertone in “Vee”’s cold grey eyes.

The villain raised an eyebrow, making the other’s cheeks pink slightly and lower his gaze with a sneer.

“So,” the hero finally broke the ice, slightly leaning forward on the table; his face was back to serious and almost uncharacteristically emotionless. “You killed all those people.”

Virgil smirked, his eyes shining with pride as he stared back challengingly. He nodded humming lowly, almost in a musical way, immediately breaking the façade Roman was wearing.

“And how did you do it?” The Red Prince narrowed his eyes, despite his tone being threatening, a tinge of curiosity could be detected.

The villain laid back in his chair and put his heavy purple and black boots on the table, letting out a pleased chuckle at the hero’s annoyance.

“With style, _obviously_.” He shrugged, smirking evilly.

Roman growled completely loosing his patience and getting up, the sound of his hands slamming on the table and the chair falling back almost making Virgil jump.

“You killed innocent people!” He yelled, pointing to his left to a board with the photos of the victims plastered on that the villain had yet to notice.

“ _Innocent_?” Virgil scoffed incredulously, “give me a break! They _deserved_ everything I did to them, maybe even worse! They were anything _but_ innocent. ”

“Oh, yeah?! And let’s see, what did they do to deserve it?”

Roman’s voice had a challenging undertone, thinking the villain wouldn’t have known how to answer. His eyes widened though when, Virgil sharply turned around, pointing to the first photo on the wall.

“He abused his 10 year old daughter constantly, both sexually and physically.” He pointed to the second one. “She killed three men making it look like an accident.” Then another one. “He was a human trafficker. He was a pedophile. She killed her son by locking him in the freezer.” He stopped, looking at the hero’s now pale face.

“And there are worse people than the ones I mentioned on that board. If you want I can keep going.”

Roman quickly shook his head, his face bale and his eyes wide and lost.

The villain scoffed, shaking his head, a sneer still clear on his face. He summoned a few shadows making them wrap around the light handcuffs and snapping them off effortlessly.

“Then get more information before accusing someone like that. You don’t know the first thing about me.” He snarled, before turning around and leaving through the window that was still wide open.

Roman fell back on to his chair, a breath leaving him as he completely deflated. He couldn’t believe it. All those people he tried to save, all those people he _succeeded_ to protect from the Shadow Knight were _criminals_? How could he have failed to notice who those people really were?

He dropped back on to the chair, his eyes staring blankly into the now empty spot where the villain once stood. _Villain_ , he scoffed at his own thought; could he even call him that anymore? He was not so sure anymore.

“Roman?” His brother’s voice brought him out of his thoughts. He didn’t even hear him come back from work.

“Could I use the attic? I need to conduct some experiments on a new gadget I was planning for you.”

There was a bit of silence before the hero managed to find his voice again.

“Sure.” He got up, his eyes still distant, “I needed some fresh air anyway. Don’t wait up for me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry for the long wait and if the chapter is short! I was recovering from covid (It wasn't as bad as other people had it, but it was still a pain lol) and couldn't find the motivation to write!
> 
> Hope you enjoy anyway! Let me know what you think it's going to happen and feel free to point out any mistakes/typos you may find! 
> 
> Bye,
> 
> Ali c:


	24. A/N please read ;-;

Hi guys! Sorry for this A/N i swear the next chapter will be out as soon as i can!

Now i know it's way too soon to be talking about a new story, but i need to start planning it out and that takes a long time, so it would help to already know what you guys want to read next!

So i'll tell you the titles of the stories i was planning on working on:

1) **Bodyguard - Prinxiety** : When Virgil gets dragged by his best friend to a concert of the world famous band _R.O.Y.A.L.S.,_ he was not expecting to become the cute frontman's new bodyguard.

Pairings:Prinxiety, Remile, Logicality and Demus (though less present)

Angst level out of 10: I'd say probably a 4/10.

2) **365 Days - Prinxiety** : When Virgil, a world wide famous singer, got into a car accident that temporarily took away his vision, he did not expect to meet a bright, musical obsessed guy he would eventually fall in love with.

Extract: _“Oh please. I’ll give you a year before you’re head over heels for me. And that’s just cause you’re stubborn!” “Oh yeah? Well, challenge accepted, Princey.”_

Pairings: Prinxiety, Logicality, maybe some Remile or Demus, you guys can choose i didn't really plan that far into the story.

Angst level out of ten: _Definitely_ 10/10

3) **Badly Damaged - Prinxiety (soulmate AU)** : _(yeah i know another prinxiety but it's just easy to write okay?! lol)_ Virgil just got out of a 4 years sentence in a juvenile prison for the murder of his brother, despite it not being his fault. 

Now that he is out he lives with his grandmother, the only member of his family willing to take him in after the scandal, and he is trying to get his life back together.

He has no friends, and no one trusts him or wants to get close to him. Not even his soulmate, the words permanently tattooed on his arm a constant reminder of that: " _Listen, I don't like you."_.

Only Patton, a weirdly ever happy guy from a local bakery, doesn’t seem to mind his presence, his past or the fact that he doesn't talk, and offers him a job and a friend.

Roman, his employee, does not agree with the decision, but is forced to accept it. And who knows maybe he’ll find out that after all Virgil is not all that bad.

Pairings: Prinxiety, Logicality, Demus and Remile, in order from most to least present

Angst level out of 10: i'd say a solid 8 or 9/10

4) **Escape - Intrulogical (soulmate AU)** : this is based on this prompt: _"When you meet your soulmate for the first time, you get a brief flash-forward of your future."_

When they were younger, Roman and Remus both loved to hear their mother talk about all of the amazing adventures they would have gone on thanks to their superpowers, imagining themselves fighting villains like their parents have done all of their lives. Their mum loved to tease them, telling them about a special power they both had but didn't know about and no matter how much they begged her, she would not have told them what power it was until they were 18. 

Unfortunately, though, she never got to tell them before getting killed, and while after getting their revenge Roman went on to became the city's beloved hero, Remus decided that saving people wasn't for him, and settled for opening a small pub downtown. 

This is where he meets Logan, a shy guy in a bad situation. As soon as their eyes meet, Remus he's able to see their future together and the abusive situation the guy finds himself at the moment and decides that, if no one else's, at least he would be Logan's hero.

Peculiarity: this would be an interactive story, so i will have to write it down completely and then publish it all at one, which will take a really long time. The other option would be to put a poll at the end of each chapter with which you guys could choose what the next chapter would be, but that would exclude everyone who finds and reads the story later. **This would probably take the longest to publish and i'm half tempted to make i a collaboration with someone else (if you have anyone in mind let me know!)**

Pairings: Intrulogical, Prinxiety, Moceit.

Angst level out of 10: I'd say between 6 and 8/10

5) **Devilish - Analogical** : Virgil was bored as hell. Being the son of the King Of the Underworld wasn't as fun as it sounded. He wanted to go and see the human world, he wanted to explore it and get to know the way they lived better. After a lot of convincing, his father agrees to let him do it, and he becomes a student in the London University. Things get wildly interesting when he takes interest in the smartest guy of the school, his father sends an undercover demon to protect him and God's sends his best angel to make Virgil go back.

Extract: _“Dad please let me do it. It’s just gonna be for a year no one is even gonna notice!”_

_“Oh wow I didn’t know your grandpa changed his name from god to ‘No One’.” He said sarcastically._

_Virgil huffed and rolled his eyes looking at his father sitting on his red throne, the sunglasses he was wearing to shield himself from the fire of Hell slightly pushed down on his nose to look at his son._

_“Virgil i already told-“_

_“_ He wants to break free.

He wants to break free.

He wants to break free from this life of hot skies and be free!

He wants to be free,

Dad knows- _”_

_“Freddy shut the fuck up or I swear imma send you back into the flames.”_

_“Oh, come on!” Mercury whined, slightly stomping his foot like a child, before shooting Remy a playful look and slowly starting to do the shimmy, “_ Don’t stop me now, I’m having such- _”_

_The devil’s son giggled as he listened to his father groan and calling his minions with a small movement of the hand._

_In the bat of an eye, four black vaguely human shaped spirits came to drag Freddy out of the throne room._

_“No, no, no-_ Save me, save me, save me! _”_

Peculiarities: Despite the fact that the theme of the story is religious, it will not be based on an actual religion but will take a little bit from all of them, for example Remy is known as the devil but Hell is based around the greek view of the Underworld, meaning everyone who dies goes there, not only those who 'sinned' and then people get sorted into different parts of it. If you happen to be familiar with the TV show Lucifer, the dynamics will be more or less those.

Pairings: Analogical, Royalty, Demus, Remile.

Angst level out of 10: 3/10, maybe lower honestly.

**PLEASE VOTE AND LET ME KNOW WHICH ONE YOU'LL LIKE TO READ! IT WON'T BE POSTED UNTIL AT LEAST ONE OF THE STORIES I'M WORKING ON AT THE MOMENT WILL BE FINISHED BUT I STILL NEED TO PLAN IT ANYWAY!**

Yeah, so thank you for reading and let me know!

Bye,

Ali c:


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